Level 100
by StgMc98
Summary: AU/Crossover. To escape the death game Sword Art Online, Kirito, Asuna and the others must first conquer level 100, a medieval-style District called Trost. However, all is not as it seems, with Titans running amok over the land. Will they be able to succeed and finally return to the real world? (Spoilers! AU where SAO I, episode 14 didn't happen. T because potential gore)
1. Departure

_Level 99: Yokan. Teleport Gate._

Kirito looked out from the Central Plaza of this, the penultimate level of Sword Art Online. The clearing group had gathered in an Ancient Greek-style temple at the summit of the mountain-island, underneath a purple sunrise. The main island of this floor was entirely a mountain, with the edges sheer, several 100 metre drops into the lava below; the only way to travel between the islands on this floor was a boat that came once a day, or via crystals. The lower areas of the mountain contain forestry with a variety of dangerous beasts, before this shifts to a more civil group of fields and shrubbery, which provides a boundary between the perilous forest and the town area, leading up to the flattened peak of the mountain where the Central Plaza temple sat. Kirito's thoughts flashed back to when they arrived on this level, and he'd gone to explore the forest, before being attacked by an onslaught of giant beasts, resembling eerie hybrids of bears and big cats; however, they were confined to the forest areas, and so the clearing group was able to avoid them, except for when travelling to or from the main island. The other islands on the level did not have forests and creatures of this manner, although it was far from safe.

The dungeon had claimed the lives of almost a quarter of the clearing group, with the final boss alone killing over 20 skilled players. The memory of the boss – and the deaths suffered – would remain with the clearing group as long as they lived. It was called "Fiend of Lost Souls", and was at least 5 times as tall any player. It had a blood red body without skin, only bulging muscles protruding into the health bars of those who tried to attack it; however, there were no muscles on its head, just a skeletal head and neck, with empty eyes inviting players into the eternal darkness of death. Around its waist sat ripped green trousers, held on with straitjacket style belt locks, with similar locks on its wrists; however, these were reinforced with large metal spikes, the size of a player and easily able to kill one. In its monstrous hands, it gripped a huge mallet, stronger than anything Lisbeth had discovered in the 99 floors of Aincrad, and with spikes even greater and more devastating on each end that those on its wrists. Finally, and possibly scariest of all was its mouth; the creature's mouth was not on its face – although a skeletal grin perpetually remained there – but in its chest. It had purple, round lips that held jutting, animalistic teeth, which tried to ingest anything close enough into the green depths of its seemingly endless throat. It was, without a doubt, the toughest and most deadly beast the clearing group had ever faced in this game of death.

The only positive that Kirito could bring to mind was that those in the clearing group who he held closest had survived the clash and were still by his side; Agil, Klein, Lisbeth, Asuna. However, those that had been lost had invaluable skill, experience and were a huge loss to the group as a combined force, and a society. Morale had been decreased as many mourned their lost for days afterwards; Kirito knew they had to press on, they had to conquer the game now that they were so close, and he wanted to with childlike urgency, assuming that greater speed would equate to less casualties, even though in reality it could in fact mean the opposite. He was desperate to return to the real world, in order to meet Asuna outside the game. However, he couldn't deny that even he was shocked at the losses they suffered, and that the clearing group was severely diminished. Of all people, he did not expect Heathcliff to die, ever. Before the "Fiend of Lost Souls", no one had seen Heathcliff with less than half his health, let alone a red health bar. Kirito thought Heathcliff seemed reckless in the battle, and something felt off, but he assumed that this was just the sensation he felt as the result of feeling a fusion of grief and relief after the battle.

He strode to the centrepiece of the temple, the Teleport Gate. His pulse was racing, in the best way, gazing around at those he admired, respected... loved. The clearing group had become his family, in the very way he felt he lacked family in the real world. He felt a sense of legitimacy here that he had not felt in the real world since he'd found out. He could see in all of the faces around him the intensity of the clearing group, knowing what laid in front of them, even if they knew nothing of what it would contain. He registered the mixture of anguish and determination in his fellow fighters, ready for whatever Akihiko Kayaba had planned for them.

How could they kid themselves that they were ready?

"Are you excited?" Kirito whispered jokingly to Asuna, as she looked off into the distance at the sunrise.

She smiled gently, forcing her trepidation into the depths of her stomach. "Of course, Kirito. Soon we'll be meeting in the real world." This last sentiment sparked an explosion of hope and determination to quash her nerves. She would've liked for the two of them to return to their log house on Level 22 before they ventured into the final battle; hell, in a perfect world they could stay there instead of battle and the clearing group conquer the game without them, but they were too valuable, and there's too much at stake for them to 'sit it out'. They were going to conquer the game, once and for all, and a thought that kept her going was that they'd grow old together and one day buy a similar log house in a forest in the real world.

Kirito and Asuna could both feel the anticipation, the anxiety and the eagerness in the atmosphere at the Teleport Gate. They felt proud as they remembered what had gone before, how far they had come and the friends they'd made. The fact they found each other. This silent nostalgia ignited a fire in both, giving them reason to fight on with everything they had. 'Soon, we will meet in the real world.' Both thought to themselves.

"Kirito, Asuna. Are you ready?" A slim, strong young woman in Knights of the Blood Oath armour asked simply, snapping both out of their daydreams. It was Kimiko, the new leader of the guild. She had been deputy to Heathcliff until the battle a few days ago, although he often left decisions, preparations and speeches to her, almost as if he was preparing her to lead the guild full-time. As a result, she'd stepped up greatly to the post, although it was implausible to assume she had not struggled at all, particularly trying to lead a guild while in mourning. She was physically fit, more visibly so than any others of the clearing group, with bulging muscles in greater measure than Agil, something Kirito had previously joked about with Agil. She was in her mid-20s, but had the experience and self assurance of someone far more senior, due to her role in the clearing group and Knights of the Blood Oath within SAO. She had dark, deep brunette hair that was tied hastily into a ponytail reaching the small of her back and often flowing in the breeze in a similar fashion to a cape. Her piercing blue eyes masked the pain of the lost friends and close calls of the past 3 years, buried under an ocean of compassion and hope; despite her often short, firm nature when discussing battle plans and topics of similar importance, she was one of the most caring, optimistic and empathetic of all the players Kirito and Asuna had met.

"Yes, of course!" they answered in unison, although neither were entirely sure. She turned to address the gathered players at the base of the Teleport Gate.

"Good afternoon, members of the clearing group. Today, we take the final leap on the path to the real world: to normality. We have lost many friends in this 3 year struggle, and while we may miss all of them, especially those who died on this level, we must continue in this ongoing fight towards logging out all the remaining players. To those of the Knights of the Blood Oath Guild, we recently lost our leader Heathcliff, his tactical genius and fighting capabilities, but we must strive forward in his name. We will clear this death game in his memory, the memory of everyone we have lost, and the for the futures of those who still remain trapped here. We fight on to Trost today!"

The crowds were a buzz of nervous excitement, many hearing for the first time the name of Level 100: Trost. Kirito turned to Kimiko, reassuring her on her "Great speech!" However, despite the relief that she had sufficiently rallied the troops despite her own anxiety, she was not finished.

"I have decided, as the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, that we will not all journey on to Trost at this moment. A small exploratory group will go to Trost now, before returning in order to inform the rest of the clearing group of what lies ahead." The crowd were slightly shocked, but largely agreed this would be a good tactic. "Kirito, Asuna, Agil... you will join Miyu, Taiki, Yoshiro and myself of the Knights of the Blood Oath on this reconnaissance mission. We will return soon." This stunned many of the clearing group, that their leader by proxy and their greatest soldier would both be leaving, and in such a small group that they could potentially be overrun; it was a journey to the final level, they could be dropped immediately into a boss fight for all they knew.

Before anyone could argue, Kimiko and her guild subordinates brought Kirito, Asuna and Agil into the Teleport Gate's centre, and Kimiko called out the two words that would spell the beginning of the end, in a steady, bold tone that disguised her true apprehension. This was it.

"Teleport: Trost!"


	2. The Exploratory Group

_Inter-Level Transport System._

A swirl of electric blue span in a tornado from the floor to higher than any of the players could see, all the way up to the floor of Level 100, Trost. The players all took a deep breath, wondering what they would find when this explosion of intense colour dissipated. Kirito, Asuna and Agil stood relatively calmly and relaxed, while the members of the Knights of the Blood Oath had stood in formation, preparing to defend their leader Kimiko from any immediate threats by surrounding her.

To Kimiko's left was a short, 19 year old girl with a bleach-blonde bob, who was gripping a small axe in her left hand; Miyu had been a valuable member of the Guild – and the clearing group – ever since being noticed by Kimiko herself, in her days as an assistant to Heathcliff. She picked out Miyu for her speed, agility and size, as she can do things that many other players are not able to do. Having given her extra combat training by the now leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Miyu and Kimiko have been fighting side-by-side since the clearing of Level 80.

To their right stood Taiki: a tall, bald and broad shouldered man in his early 40s with a large, two-handed staff. He was chosen by Kimiko to become her bodyguard as soon as she was promoted to Vice-Commander, due to his great strength, resilience and awareness. They were trusted companions and friends, having fought many battles together, and both owed the other their life many times over. Another benefit of Taiki's presence was his health bar, which far exceeded most players' totals.

Directly in front of this trio was Yoshiro, a man who had often been thought of at first meeting as a clear-cut average player. He was of average height and build, with black hair slightly shorter than Kirito's swept to the left of his forehead. However, after seeing him in battle, everyone in the clearing group instantly understood how Kimiko was reluctant to enter any battle without him; he was an incredibly skilled two-handed swordsman, using a blade similar to the Tyrant Dragon of Knights of the Blood Oath traitor Kuradeel.

_Level 100: Trost. Teleport Gate._

The whirlwind of blue surrounding them began to dissolve from around them, revealing the district of Trost. It appeared to be a medieval-style landscape, looking out from the large, ornate building they had arrived in. This was the first time a Teleport Gate had been inside a building; it had tall marble walls, and was located higher than any other building visible, meaning they could look out across Trost. They could see rows and rows of buildings that looked like houses, with red tiled roofs and signs of inhabitants, such as washing lines; in the distance, a huge stone wall stood 50 metres into the air in a semi-circle, enclosing Trost on all sides. However, in all of the places they could see, not one person was visible. It was ghost town.

The room containing the Teleport Gate was largely a simple one; the walls were tall and made of white marble, slightly discoloured and grey, sucking the light out of the room. On all four walls were large arches reaching just over half way of the height and length of the walls, allowing them to view much of the immediate area surrounding them. The room had a large, rectangular oak door in one corner, and a large chandelier, still rocking from the arrival of the members of the clearing group.

"At ease." Kimiko commanded in a quiet, level tone, relaxing her tense muscles and resting her one-handed sword in its scabbard. The three soldiers surrounding her obey, easing their bodies but remaining close to Kimiko, and scrutinising their new surroundings for potential threats. 'This place,' she thought to herself, 'is too peaceful to be Level 100.'

Meanwhile, the other three players ventured through the oak doorway, which lead to a tight, circular marble staircase, and soon they were in a much larger room, with paintings lining the high walls and a series of large, oak tables and chairs. It looked like a great hall, but there were still no people; no NPCs to guide them or anything. There weren't even any monsters attacking them, and the anxiety and trepidation about arriving in the final level seemed to have been wasted.

Soon, Kimiko and the other members of the Knights of the Blood Oath joined Kirito, Asuna and Agil in the hall. "Something is not right about this; it's very tranquil and empty for the final level of this death game." Kimiko announced her suspicions to the rest of the exploratory group.

"That's what I've been thinking too." Asuna agreed quickly, relieved that she was not alone in the uneasy feeling that still occupied the pit of her stomach.

"I have a theory about that." Taiki called out to the group decisively. He was often a key member of strategising battles, and was one of the most alert and attentive players in the game. "The entire district is enclosed by the giant wall in the distance, right?" He began, with those around him nodding in agreement. "Well, it seems feasible that this Level could contain a battle in which the district either fills up with enemies on all sides, or that they sweep from one side to another; either way, the players would be swarmed and have no way of escape, as they are all contained within the walls."

The theory of Taiki began to dawn on the other members of the exploratory group, causing their hearts to sink slightly. "Like pigs to the slaughter." Kimiko replied, disheartened. It was not unreasonable to assume Akihiko Kayaba wouldn't do something so unattainably difficult on Level 100. Kirito had always assumed, always hoped that Akihiko himself would be the final boss in some form, so that Kirito could avenge those that had been lost along the way. So that he could avenge Sachi.

"We will defeat them all." Kirito snarled, "We will defeat Akihiko Kayaba."

Suddenly, the silence in the background of their conversation was replaced by the sound of footsteps nearby. It was difficult to tell where they were coming from, or how many people there were, but the exploratory group of players were shocked. 'Where have they come from?!' Kirito thought to himself, as the players grouped together in the middle of the large tables for defence.

Moments later, four people entered the hall where the players were standing, tense and weapon-ready. All four had brown shoes and tight white trousers with brown straps clinging to their muscular legs. They were wearing brown jackets with winged crests on the breast pockets, draped in emerald green capes that had the same crest on their backs. At the front was a tall, muscular man who had a relatively young, approachable impression. He had blonde hair swept to the side, bushy eyebrows and piercing blue eyes, almost equal to Kimiko in their depth and marvellous intricacy. Beside him stood a smaller man – even shorter than Kirito – who looked expressionless and disinterested. He had black hair in an undercut style, with a centre parting, and below that was a gaunt face, with thin, jaded eyes. He too was deceptively youthful in his look, but looked much less professional than the first man.

Behind those two men stood a man and a woman; the man behind them was the tallest of the group, with dirty blonde hair in a centre-parted fringe sweeping low enough to reach his ears. He had thin, guarded eyes, peeping over the top of a stocky nose. He had a meagre amount of dark facial hair on his upper lip and chin, with thick, blonde sideburns and very thin eyebrows that constantly made him look angry or wary. Stood next to him was a very enthusiastic and welcoming woman of radiant beauty; she had maroon hair in a high ponytail and flowing down the sides of her face to cover her ears; from between the cover of her hair, her big, round eyes glistened and shimmered in the mid-afternoon light, with large rectangular glasses sitting over the top. She was without a doubt the happiest of the group.

"Good afternoon." The tall, blonde man at the front announced to the seven players stood defensively. "We've been expecting you."


	3. Diplomacy and Distrust

_Level 100: Trost. Great Hall._

The silence was deafening, filling the Hall with tension that could be cut with the swords that the players were still gripping tightly. Kirito did not see immediate danger and lowered his sword slightly, glancing to Asuna and Agil to do the same. They did not trust these new arrivals – just in case – but they did trust Kirito. The soldiers from the Knights of the Blood Oath kept their weapons at the ready.

"You need not be afraid: we are not here to hurt you." The man continued, making sure he made eye contact with each of those stood opposite him; he could see the intensity in their eyes, the pain and fear clouding their minds. They had learnt to be very wary in this game, particularly in unfamiliar situations. Akihiko Kayaba had a very deadly, creative imagination, and one which they had grown to fear. However, these people did not appear to be monsters; if anything, they looked like a guild in themselves. The man took a step forward, making Kimiko stiffen her grip on the handle of her sword. Asuna reached out and put her hand on Kimiko's shoulder to calm her – risking an immediate sword-shaped reaction – and Kimiko obliged: they needed whatever information they could get, and by her sides were some of the most skilled fighters in the clearing group. They could handle it.

Kimiko lowered her sword, although she did not feel comfortable enough to return it to its scabbard; with this, her subordinates from the Knights of the Blood Oath also lowered their weapons, keeping themselves at the ready but loosening their muscular bodies.

"I am Commander Erwin Smith, and this is my partner Captain Levi Ackerman." The tall man went on, gesturing to the small man who stood beside him, while radiating comfort and calmness with the situation, more so now that the players' weapons had been lowered. "This is Mike Zacharius and Hange Zoe," he went on, nodding to the two people stood behind them. "And we are the Squad Leaders of the Survey Corps."

"Nice to meet you!" Hange exclaimed, leaning forward so that her eyes jumped out to the new arrivals, conveying her very real excitement and enthusiasm for their mere existence.

"Hello." Mike muttered, looking overall bored and disgruntled at what he viewed to be a waste of time, saying these pleasantries without even knowing who these people are and if they could be trusted.

"I see you made it here well enough." Levi murmured, deadpan yet acrimonious, his eyes flickering from person to person, critiquing their stances and analysing their capabilities. Kirito snarled a little at this display of sheer ignorance, remembering the plight of the players to his sides, and of those who did not make it this far. Asuna grabbed his wrist, trying to calm him as she had Kimiko earlier, and he bit his tongue. However, Asuna did not reach out to Kimiko with this calming influence.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, you inconsiderate bastard?!" She yelled, lunging towards the oak table that stood between her and Levi, ready to hurdle it and put him in his place. However, before she reached the table, Taiki grabbed her arms and pulled her back: he was her bodyguard, and wanted to avoid unnecessary fighting. He also had the attentiveness to realise that these people could be strong allies; they had structure, weapons (he had noticed the 3D Manoeuvre Gear, but did not know exactly what it was) and potentially information.

Levi sighed lightly, not thinking her outburst was worth fighting back against. Taiki continued to prevent her from lunging at Levi, while Miyu spoke to her in order to calm her down; the third member of the Knights of the Blood Oath simply stared at Levi, enraged but stationary. Kirito looked to Asuna and Agil, inquiring with them whether they should thump Levi on Kimiko's behalf, but both shook their heads. Kirito still wanted to, but he decided it best to leave it. If nothing else, waiting would make that punch all the sweeter.

Erwin looked to Levi disapprovingly, but without even a hint of surprise in his eyes. He then looked up to Kimiko as she began to compose herself, and took a deep breath. "My apologies. He can come across as insensitive, but he's a good man." Levi scoffed at the end of Erwin's sentence, but the Commander ignored it, stepping forwards further into the room. "Which one of you is the leader?" He asked coolly, addressing all of the players with a cool, consoling tone.

Kimiko flushed with slight embarrassment after her outburst, realising that she was the representative of all of the players. She shuffled slightly forward before clearing her throat with an awkward, gruff cough. "I am." She said in a simple, sharp tone.

"Well, we have a lot we need to discuss." Erwin replied shortly.

"Actually, we have to go..." Kimiko replied.

"Go?"

"Exactly _how _do you suppose you'll do that?" Levi snorted, shocked at the arrogance displayed by these new arrivals, as if they were just tourists who could come and go from this living hell as they pleased.

"The Teleport Gate..." Kimiko continued, before trailing off. Usually NPCs had inbuilt knowledge of Teleport Gates, and some even used them in order to trade on various Levels. But these NPCs seemed to have no knowledge of it.

"_The Teleport Gate_?" Levi imitated "What the fuck is that?"

The players' hearts sank in unison, everyone's hearts clogging their throats so they were unable to answer Levi's question. Kimiko turned and ran to the door, closely followed by her fellow Knights of the Blood Oath. Kirito, Asuna and Agil remained in the Hall, not needing or wanting the confirmation of what they already knew to be true.

Kimiko dashed up the stairs and burst through the oak door, sending it crashing into the stone walls; she stood in the centre of the room, surrounded by her subordinates, before calling out "Teleport: Yokan!"

Nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing happened.

Miyu walked towards her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Kimiko." She assured her leader and friend, although she did not believe the words she was saying.

Meanwhile, Kirito sheathed the Elucidator onto his back. "Will you help us?" He enquired, still not entirely sure these NPCs were trustworthy.

"Actually, I was thinking you of asking the same thing; maybe we could work out a bargain of sorts?"

Erwin's reply caught Kirito, Asuna and Agil off-guard; they hadn't expected to have to help NPCs on Level 100, which was normally the substance that made up side missions on earlier Levels, which those who were not part of the clearing group seemed to get up to in their time in the game. Not the final Level. Moreover, if these NPCs were so important and wanted to help the players, why would Akihiko Kayaba introduce them on the final Level? Was this battle going to be that hard?

All this diplomacy and distrust would have to wait, as a single bellowed word changed the entire state of affairs.

"Titans!"


	4. Titans

_Level 99: Yokan. Teleport Gate._

Klein shivered slightly, the only outward sign of his current anxiety. The clearing group were still sat, all but silently, awaiting the return of the exploratory group. It had been an hour, but to Klein it felt like days had passed; he thought they would have returned sooner than this, to rally the rest of the clearing group and set off to the final Level. He looked across to his fellow Fuurinkazan members, his friends from before this game started: he could barely remember how they all were before SAO, it'd been too long. Would they all make it to return?

Klein's hands began to twitch, indicating his restlessness. He was not one to wait around, and knowing that Kirito, Asuna, Agil and four of the finest members of the Knights of the Blood Oath had all gone on ahead and left him behind only made this time killing more unbearable. He wanted to know how they were getting on; he wanted to be a part of it. But he was left behind.

He sat cross legged, staring at the stone floor beneath him. He trusted them, and he trusted Kimiko's judgement, but he couldn't stop his mind from playing out murderous, painful scenarios of suffering and death over and over. His hands fiddled while he thought: his left brushed through his tall, ginger hair, while his right tapped at the handle of his sword. A couple of clearing group members sat opposite him began to argue, claiming that a larger group should have been sent, while another instructs him in no uncertain terms to stop lowering morale. Morale was already being sucked out of each player with every passing moment that there was no return and no message.

Klein stood up, looking across to his fellow Fuurinkazan members. "Guys..." a few of them began to look up, while others were still lost in the depths of their own minds. "We should go."

Dale – a large, round soldier with black hair – looked up to Klein in shock. "You mean," he gulped, before continuing, "disobeying Kimiko?" Klein shrugged a little, not wanting to admit to being a disobedient member of the clearing group, before Dale added "The one you're scared of?"

Klein's cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. "I am not scared! Come on man, don't say that in front of everyone!" He whispered quickly, trying to silence his friend. "Still, anything could be happening and it feels lame just sitting here, you know?"

Kunimittz, a tall young man with black, swept back hair and slight stubble entered the conversation, chiming in agreement with Klein, "This does suck, but... should we really go up there? I mean, we were directly told-"

"Who cares?" Replied Klein, impatient as ever. "I'm not just gonna sit here and wait. We should be up there, fighting alongside them on the final Level. It's the last stop before reality. Normality even." He continued, before realising he'd caught the attention of not only his guild members and friends, but the rest of the clearing group as well.

Dale, Kunimittz and the other Fuurinkazan members walked to the centre of the Teleport Gate, much to the shock of the other players sat around.

"We're going up to Level 100; we don't wanna sit around and wait. Anyone's welcome." Klein addressed the rest of the clearing group simply, before calling out "Teleport: Trost!" in order to send himself and his friends to the final Level. He held onto the idea that his friends were still alive up there. He hoped, deep in his heart, that he was right. That they were still alive: Kirito, Asuna, Agil, Kimiko: all of them.

_Level 100: Trost. Teleport Gate._

The six soldiers arrived in the marble, archway-filled room that was the Trost Teleport Gate. As the explosive transport uproar subsided, they could hear a commotion below them. They approached the oak door cautiously, before edging slowly down the stairs; they could see Kirito, Asuna, Agil and the Knights of the Blood Oath soldiers, with a group of young soldiers talking to them as they leaned against thick oak tables, shaking in fear.

"Kirito!" Klein called out, overwhelmingly relieved that his friend was still alive. Kirito turned, relieved to see Klein and the Fuurinkazan guild, but still terror reigned in his eyes at the situation outside the building.

"You arrived?" Kirito exclaimed, conveying the mixture of joy, relief and trepidation in his voice. "Of all the times you could've come here, you chose now?" He added, disbelievingly.

Klein cautiously approached the exploratory group, followed by his guild members: outside he could see the same skyline as he had from the Teleport Gate room: red roofs, the far-off wall; it had seemed pretty mundane and ordinary before. However, something was very different now. There were giant humanoid creatures terrorising the area. Klein's jaw and heart dropped simultaneously at the sight of these creatures, and then even further as he heard the rest of the clearing group approaching the hall from the Teleport Gate.

The soldiers that had joined up with the exploratory group were similar to the four that they had encountered earlier, but there were two distinctive differences: firstly, these soldiers were much younger, teenagers at most. Secondly, they did not have the emerald green capes that the original four had. However, they shared the crest and so they seemed to be the original four's subordinates, given the task of looking after the new arrivals while the main soldiers fought off this threat.

However, these soldiers would have their hands full with the rest of the clearing group arriving. A whole roomful of lovely people for the Titans to eat. Jean sighed heavily, realising the possible repercussions of even one Titan reaching the building. He and the other trainees would have to look after these new arrivals for now, but they'd better be worth it.

Levi led his group past the clearing group and up the stairs to the Teleport Gate. It was the highest point on the building – and in all of Trost, save the sides of Wall Rose – and so they would be able to gauge the threat better. Meanwhile, Erwin had already left with members of the Survey Corps including Hange and Mike in order to take down some of the nearby Titans. Flanked by Eld, Gunther, Oluo and Petra, Levi looked out to across Trost from the archway, assessing the situation.

"How did this many..." Petra trailed off. This was becoming normal for them, after the hole in the wall, the evacuation of the citizens. Levi looked to her reassuringly, although Oluo was not as understanding.

"I've killed more than there are out there." He exclaimed, able to hide his slight anxiety; even they might struggle with this many. But there was no option but to fight. Petra didn't react, didn't retort: she knew it was his coping method, but she could not join him this time. She was scared.

"Everyone ready?" Levi added after a short pause. His squad nodded to him one by one, and so he proceeded. "The trainees have been given the job of looking after our new arrivals inside. Erwin, Hange and Mike are all leading squads further out, but our job is to take down any of the fuckers that get within two blocks from here, to protect them. Any questions?" With that, he looked from one set of eyes to another. He could sense the anticipation, but there wasn't time for that. Finally, Levi concluded "Let's go."

The five of them jumped through the archway, initiating their 3D Manoeuvre Gear.

_Level 100: Trost. Outskirts._

Mike shot his 3D Manoeuvre Gear grappling hook into the side of a building, swinging round it towards a couple of bald 7 metre class titans who were bumbling down what used to be a market street. As he approached – the wind rustling through his hair – he unsheathed a blade in each hand; his 3DMG redirected itself in to the back of the nearer Titan's neck with a sickening thud of tissue, and he zoomed towards it, slicing its skin at the nape of the neck in a bloody, fleshy spray. The 3DMG then cut into the back of the head of the Titan in front, causing the neck to give way slightly and the Titan to lose balance, falling into the street on top of its fellow, dead, Titan.

Skilfully, the Survey Corps soldier managed to remove his grappling hook from the falling Titan and shoot it into the side of another building: this flung him towards the wall, which he then jumped over, landing on the cracked tiles above. He took this moment to look around, already knowing what he'd find thanks to his acute smell: Titans. There were Titans in many of the surrounding roads, and roughly half were converging towards the Central Building.

_Level 100: Trost. Great Hall._

The trainees could see the Titans approaching the building. They knew that Levi's Special Operations Squad was directly protecting them and the area they were in, but they were still intimidated, still scared. They surrounded the clearing group on all four sides; one side had Jean, Marco and Connie, another had Armin, Mikasa and Eren, the third had Sasha, Bertolt and Reiner, and the final had Ymir, Krista and Thomas. They were each watching what was unfolding, assessing the situation, preparing their 3DMG. They had been told briefly by Erwin not to leave the building, only to slice the hands or faces of the Titans if need be to drive them back.

Suddenly an abnormal 10 metre class began to run at the building. The Special Operations Squad had been dealing with a few that were reaching the other side of the building more slowly and were unable to react. 'They aren't gonna make it' Mikasa thought to herself, gripping her blades tightly. Before she could move, there were other footsteps.

Sasha began to run form beside Bertolt and Reiner, jumping through the air and shooting her grappling hook into the arm of the Titan, and swinging round into its back; this enabled her to trap the arm behind the back of the Titan, leading its shoulder to the side and causing it to run down a side road. As it passed the edge of the building, she unlocked the grappling hook, kicked off the Titan's back and landed in the archway. As she landed, Levi dropped out of the sky in a corkscrew spin with his blades out, slicing the nape of the neck of the abnormal Titan, causing it to stop running and fall forwards, landing face first on the concrete floor. The players took a collective sigh of relief, the immediate danger being having ended.

The players had been defended by the skills of the soldiers they'd just met; soon, they'd have to defend themselves against these giants, with their vacant faces. Vacant faces that would, no doubt, consume some of those within Trost before this death game was over.


	5. We Are The Survey Corps

_Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp._

A few streets away from the building containing the Teleport Gate and the Great Hall, was a rectangular building that appeared mostly uniform and standard for the District, save for the size of it; it was twice as long as the other buildings in the vicinity, and almost as tall as the Central Building. Moreover, it had a giant flag draped across the front of the building: it had a vibrant green background, with the Survey Corps' crest – The Wings of Freedom – shining out to the world. The Wings of Freedom seemed like a good moniker to adopt for the players of the clearing group, given their situation.

They had been shaken by the Titan attack, but fired up to defeat Akihiko Kayaba; however, something else played on a few of their minds. Kirito and Taiki were both considering the reasoning behind the Survey Corps' existence. Why would Akihiko Kayaba give the players all of this help now, on the final Level? Would one of these NPCs turn on them? It would be impossible to tell at this stage, but both of the players were consumed in this speculation.

The Survey Corps had organised the players into a few of the larger rooms of the Camp, with each of the Squad Leaders addressing the players' concerns in turn, each discussing one area before moving on to another group of players. Erwin gave the players an overview of the situation that Trost was in and the history of the attacks of the Titans in the past few years.

"We had lived in peace here, until the Titans broke through the outermost wall, Maria, a few years ago under exceptional circumstances." Erwin addressed the group in front of him. "Now, we live in fear of the Titans, trying to reclaim this land for ourselves."

Meanwhile across the corridor, Levi was instructing another group on the strategy for fighting Titans, and how to kill them. "The only way to kill the bastards is to slice the nape of their neck. As you may have noticed, they're much larger than us. So, how do you think we do this?" He asked, the sarcasm bleeding from his brain into his speech as it so often did. He wasn't a fucking teacher; he was just like those before him, if not worse. They had hope.

The third partition of the clearing group was being lectured by the ever-enthusiastic Hange, who was explaining the knowledge that the Survey Corps had on Titans. "They don't seem to need to eat us for energy or power, it seems to be programmed as a desire that fuels them for another reason; however, it appears blocking the sun can impact their energy levels." She seemed thrilled at the very mention of Titans, and so having a chance to explain even some of her findings elated her beyond her powers of hiding.

Erwin concluded his final talk, feeling tiredness engulfing his body and mind. "We have already evacuated the residents of Trost, so we are the only ones currently in the firing line; however, if we fail, many will die. But we will succeed in defeating the Titans. We are the Survey Corps."

_Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Mess Hall._

"Hey, Asuna?" Kirito began, looking to the beautiful young woman sat across from him. She looked up, smiling as she always did at the sight of his eyes. "I bet I'll be able to beat you in a race with the 3D Manoeuvre Gear!" He exclaimed, making his darling unable to contain her laughter.

"You're on, Kirito!" She replied with a fake intensity that reminded him of her fighting spirit.

"You know," he said, altering his tone from playful to serious, "something bugs me about this place." Asuna sighed, saddened by the fact that their life in this death game was always on the edge, always concerned. They could have little fun or relaxation without it being followed moments later by destruction and despair. She yearned for the end of this game, for their return to reality.

"You shouldn't say that so loud, they might get offended." She replied, cautious and considerate as always.

"I know... I can't put my finger on it, but it doesn't feel right. Like, why would Akihiko Kayaba give us all this help and knowledge about these monsters after 99 floors of doing nothing? It doesn't add up..."

"Well, I think we should use the knowledge we've gained but... not get too close to them. They're only NPCs, so when it comes to it, the numbers could be helpf-"

"This is Floor 56 all over again, right?" Kirito cut in, frustrated and unhappy at the thought; Asuna gasped a little, before looking over at Kirito defensively.

"Look, I don't know whether we can trust them or not, but-"

"If you give us no reason to doubt you, you will be able to trust the condemned bastards known as the Survey Corps." Neither had noticed Captain Levi had slunk over and remained behind Asuna, listening to their discussion. However, before either could react to his statement, he sauntered off with a sneer on his face.

Asuna began to collect her thoughts, but as she did so, another man appeared at their side: Commander Smith. He appeared oblivious to his subordinate's encounter with the two lovers, but could tell there was a sense of uneasiness in the air; however, he couldn't wait to speak to them.

"Good afternoon, both of you!" He greeted them, though both knew it was a formality that preceded an important conversation for politeness' sake only. Asuna smiled at the slightly overbearing man, while Kirito nodded, acknowledging the greeting.

"I've been meaning to speak to you about something... do you remember the bargain we spoke of when you first arrived?" Erwin pressed on, a sense of purpose in his voice.

"Hmm. Go on..." Kirito answered slowly, taking time to think back to their earlier conversation.

"Well, I think it's time we discuss the finer details of this, if it's not too much trouble." Kirito nodded in agreement, understanding that this was of pressing concern. "Gather up those who are the leaders of your group – the girl who was in charge of the earlier group – and meet me and the other Squad Leaders in the Meeting Room upstairs in half an hour so that we can discuss the terms of our agreement."

With that, the two lovers were left to themselves once more, in the middle of the large hall.

On the opposite side of the Mess Hall, a young woman was sat by herself. She was of average height, hunched over her empty plate in passionate grief at the fact she had finished all of the food before her. Her bright amber eyes were hidden temporarily beneath the sweeping fringe that was lightly drooping over her forehead; most of her hair had been tied back in a ponytail, with a fringe and bangs swaying lightly in the breeze, the vivid brown hair glistening maroon in the midday sun.

Sasha didn't notice a tall man enter the room, with red hair sweeping over the top of a blood-red headband, wearing long white trousers and red robes, with a black breastplate over the top; even if she had looked, she wouldn't have been able to see his hands fiddling with nerves, despite her intuitive nature, which had grown particularly in her three years in this nightmarish land; she had grown so much from her youthful, 13 year old self who last felt the sensation of real food.

Or real anything.

Klein forced his feet forwards towards the mess hall, his entire experience of Sword Art Online flashing before his eyes: fights, friendships, deaths. It all seemed like nothing in terms of nerves, relative to the situation he currently found himself in. He entered, and he could see her across the room. He walked over, slowly, every step the result of an ongoing internal conflict that he was forcing himself to win. He cleared his throat, swallowing a lump and took a deep breath.

"Here..." He said gently, trailing off, as he stretched out his hand, offering a small roll of warm bread to her.

"Oh?" She turned to face him, her beaming eyes lighting up the whole of Klein's vision with the reflection of the sun that had crept through the windows. She looked up, realising what was happening. "Uh... thank you!" She exclaimed.

She took the bread from his hand, her mood lifted entirely from just moments before. Klein felt a surge of relief and happiness course from his virtual feet all the way up to his head, his cheeks blushing to turn a similar colour to his headband and robes.

Sasha took the warm roll in both her hands, taking a second to breathe; she then broke it into two pieces, offering one half to the man stood next to her. Klein quivered a little in surprise, before taking it gratefully with a smile and accompanied blushing. She gestured lightly towards the seat next to her and asked him to join her: Klein sat in response, still quivering slightly.

"Hi! I'm Sasha," she began excitedly, glad for the company as well as the food. She smiled warmly towards Klein, realising that he was trembling and blushing a little in her presence.

"Hey! Uhm... I'm Klein. I'm new around here-"

"I'd have never guessed!" She joked, before realising they'd only just met, and thus that she didn't know his barrier for humour. However, this temporary worry soon passed, as Klein began to chuckle; this allowed Sasha to relax a little and giggle along.

"That was really impressive," Klein continued, after composing himself, "what you were able to do yesterday."

"Oh, it's nothing really." Sasha replied, before finishing her bread; she didn't want him to know just yet how bad things were, how often the Titans came. She wanted to protect him, at least for now.

There was a brief pause, in which both looked at each other, taking a second to appreciate the details of their avatars: the detail in the eyes was something that Akihiko Kayaba should be praised for, as there was little discrepancy to indicate to the players that their eyes were part of a virtual world.

_Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Meeting Room_

Three players from the Clearing Group followed the Squad Leaders upstairs to the Meeting Room; Kimiko and Asuna were fulfilling their roles as Commander and Vice-Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath and therefore of the clearing group, while Kirito was largely regarded as the strongest player in the game and thus was considered a vital member of decision-making. Of course, had he still been with them, Heathcliff would have attended under both the banner of Commander and strongest player, but the others had been promoted since the tragedy that was the Level 99 boss fight.

Eight chairs surrounded a large round table, made of solid oak; Kirito wondered the reason for this, as there were only four Squad Leaders along with the three players from the clearing group. One chair remained empty as the seven sat round the table.

"Unless your position has changed since your arrival yesterday, you are looking for our assistance?" Erwin began, straight to the point and yet soothing at the same time, as ever. "We would also be interested in cooperating with you, as we have goals that would be more achievable with the support of your people."

"More like they owe us one." Levi bit quickly, make his position crystal clear.

"Hmm I wouldn't say that." Erwin was quick to calm the room, sensing the impending agitation from Kimiko in response to Levi once again. "I think that what we did to take them in bares no cost. Had we not, their blood would be on our hands. However, any future collaboration would be at the price of your time and efforts in return."

There was a momentary pause from the members of the clearing group, before Erwin concluded his pitch-like introduction. "I believe that working together will be mutually beneficial, from what I have already seen of your people. It is up to you."

Levi and Mike both sneered a little, while Hange appeared to be reading through and adjusting some papers with great enthusiasm, while her ears stayed stood on edge, tuned into the conversation that was beginning.

Kirito gave a little cough to clear his virtual throat, although its true cause was to alleviate the intensity that built with every passing second of silence. He finally built up the guts to ask the question that'd been bugging him since he'd met the Survey Corps, and even more so since the information that they'd been given earlier in the day.

"So... if you can tell me, why are you here? Why did Akihiko Kayaba programme you to give us so much information?" He quizzed, his eyes not rising above his hands from apprehension at what the answer could be. Could it be that they'd been programmed to kill any who questioned their motives? The response was far from any scenario Kirito had run through his mind over the past day.

Laughter?

Erwin was laughing hard, harder than he had for a long, _long_ time. At least three years was the best estimate he'd be able to come up with, had he not been so consumed with laughing that he'd doubled over, pounding the table hard with his fist. Kirito looked up with an arched eyebrow of confusion. He was joined in confusion by Kimiko and Asuna, who could see Hange slowly break out into a fit of sniggering, Mike chuckling a little and the greatest surprise of all: even Levi smiled.

"Programmed?" Erwin was just able to articulate, before being overcome with the hilarity of the teenager's question and returning to deep, long overdue laughter. Hange decided to take over from Erwin, having recovered along with the other two Squad Leaders present from the momentary lapse in composure.

"We're not NPCs, Kirito. We're all gamers who've been logged into SAO too!" And with that, Kirito and the others saw into the depths of Akihiko Kayaba's abilities to manipulate everything. But how could they prove or disprove the claims?

More importantly, could they trust the Survey Corps?

* * *

**Notes: Sorry this chapter is like, 23 days after the others! I ended up getting a load of Maths homework for college, and also wanted to begin another cool creative uh.. thing, which is creating AMVs; I have a YouTube channel which I've put a link to in my Profile, so it'd be cool if you'd check those out! In future, chapters will probably be relatively slow because there are two one-shots I want to experiment with, and I also want to continue making AMVs; however, I will carry on updating this because I have some really cool ideas (in my opinion) and there are very few SAO/SnK crossovers at the moment! Thanks for reading :)**


	6. Level 100

_Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Meeting Room._

"Wha-" Kirito began, not able to finish the word that he had begun. His mind did not properly process the information first time round.

Asuna and Kimiko were visibly as shocked as Kirito, stunned into silence by the newfound knowledge that contradicted their shared assumption about the Survey Corps. Erwin had stopped laughing, but did not continue speaking yet, for fear of losing his composure once more.

"We act almost like a guild, and have been in the Trost area since the end of the Kayaba's speech in the Colosseum; when they finished talking, we were forced transported to the Central Plaza here in Trost the same way we were into the Colosseum. He then came and told us that we had been randomly selected to start in this section of SAO." Hange continued, recalling the first moments of her time in SAO.

_Level 100: Trost. Outside The Wall. (SAO Launch Day)_

Bewilderment struck the faces of the hundred players as the blue haze of the forced teleport faded once more, and they saw that this was not the Starting Town, or anywhere remotely resembling it. Hange gasped in shock, already completely stunned by the GM's introductory speech in the Colosseum. She'd been a beta tester, and this was _not_ what the game had been like last time, and definitely _not _what she signed up for.

"Death... means death... in the real world?" She mumbled under her breath, trying to comprehend the startling information Akihiko Kayaba had just given them. This was a man she idolised, worshipped... had he condemned her to death, purely by virtue of her undying support for his work?

Hange and the other players stood in front of a wall, 50 or so metres tall; it was made up of tough grey stone, and looked like there was no way through, save for the gate that stood directly in front of them; the wall and gate seemed impenetrable. The gate was made of more reddish brick, with a large crest displayed like a signal of hope: a regal woman's face looking left, an intricate crown gracing her forehead, with a background of red to the left, and green to the right. She wondered if this place would this be safe. These hopes soon appeared to be dashed.

The red and green began to seep from the crest in front of her, collecting in a bowl and building up the Gamemaster avatar of Akihiko Kayaba once more, clouding out the players' view of much of the wall.

"Hello players. As you can see, you are no longer in the Starting Town. This is Trost. You have been chosen at random, and will experience Sword Art Online in a unique way. The details of this, you will have to discover for yourselves. However, the information that was disclosed in the Colosseum stands for you just the same as the other players. I hope you enjoy your time in Sword Art Online."

With that, Akihiko Kayaba's avatar disappeared once more.

_Level 100: Trost. (One week after SAO Launch)_

Hange could see the Commander of the guild, known only as Shadis, stood in front of 20 players that surrounded her, still reeling from the Akihiko Kayaba's revelations from 7 days ago. "We're all confused, and scared. But we can't be. We must carry on, we must fight, and we must beat Akihiko Kayaba's game of death. Our families and friends are waiting for us, so let's make a start and begin levelling up out there against the nearby mobs." He called triumphantly to them.

Hange was impressed with the development he and Erwin – the Vice Commander – had made in the past week, calming some of the players and forming the Survey Corps guild. Most of the players in had little armour (but what they had was plastered with the Survey Corps crest) and fairly weak starter weapons – rapiers, long-swords and katanas seemed to be the most common choices – and yet morale was steadily increasing, and faith in Shadis was growing.

Hange swayed the katana in her hand, gauging the weight and balance of it in comparison to the Anneal Blade she'd obtained in the beta. Erwin interrupted this with a shout to the crowd.

"The 21 of you all volunteered to be part of the first group to try and level up. We are wondering if there are any beta testers among you?" Hange zoned out slightly, musing about Erwin's voice; he seemed able to instantly calm the nerves of anyone with his soothing tone, even while shouting. She could've sworn she recognised his voice... but why? She was snapped out of her thoughts by the confident man once again as he continued to speak, having received no answer. "We know that there can be stigma surrounding beta testers, but we would be at a great advantage if you revealed you skills now. Shadis and I are happy to disclose that we were indeed members of the beta test."

With that Hange's mind whirled back to the beta test, remembering that Erwin had broken up a fight between two players in a bar. Hange was glad having remembered this that Erwin was the Vice Commander of the guild; he was compassionate, but fierce when the necessary time arose.

A tall man – slightly taller than even Erwin and Shadis – walked up to the front of the group to the steps that the two men had been stood on to address us. He turned, his blonde hair too short to even sway from this movement, showing a thin, dark moustache that sat underneath his long, thin nose. He was a broad, built man, which was more impressive given that the avatars' bodies were now representative of the real-life bodies of the players.

"My name is Hannes." He began, audibly nervous of the potential backlash he could face for being a beta tester. "I too participated in the beta test."

This gave Hange a rush of confidence to calmly walk to the front of the group, stopping next to Hannes and turning around to face the crowd of players. She only reached around Hannes' shoulder in height, but stood over many of the other players due to the slight platform they were stood on. "I was one of the beta testers as well." Hange confirmed, slowing her nerves and looking across to Shadis and Erwin, who nodded in reply.

Four beta testers and nineteen rookies. It was better than two and twenty-one, but still not ideal. 'There may be other beta testers in the other seventy-seven,' Hange pondered, 'but there certainly haven't been any others that I've recognised.'

"Right. You all remember the briefing?" Shadis bellowed, getting the reply of a sea of nodding heads; meanwhile, Erwin walked over to address Hannes and Hange.

"Thank you for coming forward there," Erwin whispered to the pair, "we have to look out for the others, we don't know what'll be waiting for us outside."

"We're pretty stunned by the difference, but at least we have the experience from the beta." Hannes added, agreeing with Erwin that the beta testers would take on the responsibility for looking out for the rookies.

"How far did you guys get?" Hange probed inquisitively.

"Erm..." Hannes rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't one of the leading clearers!" He laughed this off a little, before sighing a little. "I got up to Level Four in the end. Fortunately I didn't really use much more advanced weaponry than what we have, so I shouldn't be too rusty. You and Shadis sound like you were probably clearers, right?"

"Actually, me and Shadis weren't quite clearers; we led the group that followed the clearers. We got to partway through Level Eight, but we tried to make sure less experienced and less confident players were able to get through some boss fights than get as far as we could." Erwin replied, self-assured as ever. "How about you... um?" Erwin concluded, realising that he didn't actually know his comrade's name.

"Oh! Hange... sorry." She began, embarrassed that she'd forgotten to introduce herself to any of her fellow soldiers. "Me and a friend formed a guild in the beta along with a couple of people we met in the Starting Town; we got about three quarters of the way through Level Seven."

At this point they came to a stop; each slightly startled having not noticed they'd been walking throughout the conversation, so wrapped up in nostalgic recollection of the beta test's adventure. They had reached the gate, at which point Shadis called over two players by the name of Franz and Hugo; Franz was a tall, muscular young man with shaved black hair, while Hugo was smaller and slightly more rounded, with slicked back brown hair. They raised the gate a little, meaning Hange could walk under without issue but Hannes and Erwin had to duck their heads a little to avoid scraping against it.

Outside the Wall was very much similar to Trost inside it, but much larger and more varied; there were a few buildings close by, with a waterway to the left that led to the edge of the horizon, and a forestry area nearby in front of them: further off in the distance directly in front stood a town – not too dissimilar to Trost – that looked badly damaged even from this far away; smoke was rising from some of the buildings, and there was no visible human movement.

Hange's virtual heart sank as she saw the beasts that were moving. Giant humanoid creatures, towering over the players, dozens of them visible both in the distance and closer to the Wall. Shadis called out for the attack, over estimating the combat abilities of even the beta testers, let alone the rookie players.

10 players died that day.

Dieter was a young man with messy blonde hair in right side parting, and was the first of the players to die, lifted up by the waist and snapped in half with an agonising crack; his blood spewed out and many of the players either vomited or screamed. Ivan – another young man who'd befriended Dieter during the week in Trost – yelled at the beast and ran at it, rapier brandished above his spiked brown hair, but was squashed under its enormous palm, his avatar shattering into thousands of blue pieces and dissipating into the sky. Moses was next to die, being crushed under the weight of one of the giants as it fell, having been sufficiently damaged to the legs that it dropped to its knees, landing on top of one of the brightest sparks in the Survey Corps in the skirmish up to that point. However, the death that came moments after this was possibly the most shocking and distressing.

Hange could still picture Shadis, hanging half out the mouth of one of the giants as it smiled, knowing it had caught exactly what it wanted to. The agony of watching real-life husband and wife Grisha and Carla bursting into small blue shards having been killed moments apart; Grisha – a lean man with long brown hair, slight facial hair resting on his upper lip and thin, round glasses – was crushed by one of the giants' feet, as Carla threw herself towards him, trying to rescue him, before being lifted from where she'd remained – lying on the ground sobbing into the floor where he died – and consumed by the very same beast. Hange took slight comfort in having killed that particular beast in memory of the kind couple that she had known only a week. Even three years later, Hange still mourned the loss of the two innocent souls, particularly the sweet, angelic woman; Hange occasionally wondered if they had had children outside of the game, and what became of them if they did. The thought was haunting.

Franz was killed, trying to save a young freckled girl called Hannah, both being consumed before bursting into blue snowflakes in the mouths of the savage mobs, as they continued feasting on the players. Hugo was also killed, having been bitten in half by another giant, while Hannes had become frozen in fear after seeing Shadis die and was crushed into the blue crystals that signalled ones demise in this world.

Following that battle, the Survey Corps new just how tough the battle they faced was. They lost 10 players – 10 lives – just going a few hundred metres outside the gate, let alone anywhere near a boss or dungeon. They'd also lost the experience of two beta testers, and the leadership of Shadis. However, a silver lining to this battle was the discovery of a skilled rookie that killed more individual mobs than any other. His name was Levi, and in a later discussion with Erwin and Hange, coined the term for these monsters. These giants. These... Titans.


	7. The Eighth Chair

_Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Meeting Room._

"Oh... I-I see." Kirito responded, still stunned at this revelation; it changed the situation completely. He could not imagine being in this realm for the entire time of SAO; what if he'd been chosen to join Hange and the others here in Trost 3 years ago? He'd never have met Asuna and never have had the adventures he'd had. It didn't bare thinking about.

"Wait, so you've survived here for 3 years?! With those things?" Kimiko called out, visibly shocked at the sheer resilience and courage these players would have had to have shown with no visible end in sight. Erwin nodded wordlessly; this alone assured Kimiko that these were people worth trusting and working with. With that, she looked across to Asuna and Kirito, who nodded at her in unison.

"We would be happy to work with you. Once we've sorted out the finer details, I'm sure we can come to an agreement." She asserted, it finally dawning on her that she was the head of the Knights of the Blood Oath, and it was her responsibility to deal with the current situation. She suddenly felt very appreciative of Kirito and Asuna's presence by her side.

"I'm glad to hear that!" Erwin bellowed, his excitement - at the prospect of finally moving forwards thanks to the arrival of the reinforcements that had been predicted - getting the better of him for a few moments. "Speaking of which," he continued, "There's someone I want you to meet. Levi, if you would."

Levi looked almost offended that Erwin would make _him_ the delivery boy, but he figured it'd get him out of the room for a bit, away from the brat Kirito that reminded him so much of the kid he was being sent to collect. He drew himself from the table, walking assuredly towards the door, and with a gentle swing of the large door, he was out.

"Is that who the other chair is for, then?" Asuna probed, addressing the elephant in the room for the first time. Erwin looked up with a smile towards the young woman.

"Yes. He's a very interesting young man who came to us a few months ago." Erwin began, garnering surprised expressions from all three of those sat opposite him. "I'll let him tell you about himself and the trainees though." He concluded, leaving the others confused at how someone could have only arrived a few months ago, given that they were the clearing group leading the players, and Hange had already told them they were all players logged into SAO since the opening day.

However, the clearing group members only had to wait a few more moments until Levi returned, with one of the young boys who guarded the clearing group back in Trost behind him. Levi took his place at the table once more, leaving the chesnut-haired teenager to take his place at the grand table between Hange and Asuna, replacing Kirito as the youngest person in the room. The boy sat down, unsure of what to say, until Levi gave him a vicious glare across the room.

"Uh-um I'm Eren. Eren Yeager." The young boy stammered, having only been in the Meeting Room to discuss _it. _Erwin looked over at the boy, not having seen him this nervous in almost four months; in training and in the field, he was one of the most determined, strong-willed people to have resided in Trost. Hange smiled at the young boy, willing him on. He didn't know what to say, so Erwin rescued the awkward silence.

"A few months ago, we noticed that there was little Titan presence outside the Wall one day; we assumed it was just that Akihiko Kayaba had programmed them to spawn and move randomly, as there had been one or two quiet days in the past." Erwin grimaced slightly at the thought of the days they'd _thought_ it was quiet, only to be forced back to the Wall. "However, we decided to take a look outside, because there were unusual sounds coming from outside the gate; sure enough, twelve kids were stood out there." He gestured to Eren, who was clearly one of those kids, even if he'd have preferred the term 'teenagers'. "This young lad stood out from the others though." Erwin concluded, giving Eren a verbal push in the right direction.

"Oh! I-um..." Eren started, reliving it in flickering pulses just thinking about the subject. After a few moments, he recovered his composure. "I arrived here with this vision..." He trailed off, wanting to avoid describing it as much as possible. However, the silence in the room demanded he continue. "I only remember flashes, like when you wake from a dream... I-I was in a town, similar to here in Trost, but outside the Wall. I remember the Titans attacking, running riot through the streets and then-"

The horror of recalling the vision was getting to Eren, causing his palms to sweat and his teeth to aggressively gnaw at his bottom lip in anxious fright. 'I've got this far!' He pressured himself, 'If I don't finish explaining now, it'll be for nothing.' Meanwhile, Asuna put a hand on the young boy's shoulder, unable to sit and watch him suffer the aftershock of his nightmares without trying to comfort him. She smiled, willing the boy to find courage in his heart to fight the consuming fear he was feeling. He took a deep breath.

"I remember travelling. I can't remember who with, or how, I just remember the feeling of travelling. Eventually, I remember seeing Trost on the horizon, and then it stops being the vision and suddenly I'm outside the gate with the others." Eren continued, rushing through his words, desperate to conclude the story chronologically before the fear catches up once more.

Kirito, Kimiko and Asuna all sat silently, trying to picture the boy's vision, while also trying to figure out why it was imprinted in his memory, and where he came from. 'Could there be others scattered around this Level like the Survey Corps here?' Kirito wondered, trying to take on board all of the new information from this crazy meeting at once.

"There's more though." Eren cut in, fighting back the fear clawing at the back of his mind. "One part stands out, more vividly than the travel or the Titans. In the town – Shiganshina it was called – there was a house, with a basement. I don't know why I know it's there, but..." Eren reached slightly under the collar of his shirt, pulling an ornate key on a string necklace into view of those around him, "I also have this."

After a few moments of silence, Eren shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat, which Erwin noticed. "Thank you Eren, you may return to the others if you wish." Eren nodded and smiled, thankful that he'd be able to leave the daunting aura of the room. "This meeting is confidential of course." Erwin reminded Eren, who could often be a little chatty around some of the other trainees who he'd become close friends with. Eren smiled again, a little more sheepishly, and left the room.

"That is what we at the Survey Corps have been looking into." Erwin asserted, "We believe that the key is to the basement beneath the house, and we are being directed there by Akihiko Kayaba. However, we've never been able to travel far enough outside the Wall to investigate. We've been holding out, making sure we don't lose ground, and waiting for your arrival."

Erwin took a deep breath, looking at each of the three clearing group members, before concluding the meeting. "We know it sounds like a long shot, but being in this world, there must be reason that the twelve of them arrived, and that Eren has the visions and the key."

"If we are to work together, we would be looking for your support in travelling to Shiganshina to the south, and investigating the basement."

* * *

So here we go! I'm back :) I started actually planning (yeah Chapter 1-6 I just kinda wrote as I went along with a rough idea...) and I have the rest of the story planned chapter-by-chapter now and I said July but I just couldn't wait! I hope you enjoyed this and I'll be back with more soon!

**Guest:** That would've been a really cool twist had I thought of it! I'm not gonna post any spoilers, but don't be surprised if Kayaba turns up later in the story :p

**Neon Wish Loves Peach Trees:** I know! Trost!

**Fish On stick:** in terms of the first part, I took them down and rewrote them to improve them, although still with no planning :/ as for your second review, I wanted to have more emphasis on Levi, Hange and Erwin in the past, and killing him early after introducing him as a potential leader and figure of hope I felt leads into future flashback chapters better and leaves more room to explore those three. I appreciate the feedback though :)

**Koduka:** As always, thanks for your feedback bro... I'm not gonna post some long-winded thing here for now bc we've spoken privately about this and other stories, but I hope you see improvement here with the planning + proofreading :p

**Yo mama:** Thanks, so's your mum ;)

**Voljundok:** Hope you're still enjoying it! There's gonna be a lot of cool stuff coming up (I feel the chapters at the moment are still setting the scene and stuff so they're less exciting, but that'll come soon) :)


	8. Allied Forces

_Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Meeting Room._

A silence drifted through the room, the revelations of this meeting echoing through the minds of the clearing group members, though the reverberations of the decisions made would be felt far beyond their virtual heads.

"What do you think will be down there?!" Hange asked, getting a little ahead of herself in the excitement of possibly – finally – finding out. Kirito looked up, already having considered this in the back of his mind while the conversation had continued.

"I kinda don't want to get my hopes up, but I think-" He began, before being joined – in a far more thrilled tone – by Hange, whose enthusiasm got the better of her, "It could be the dungeon that allows us to complete SAO!"

Hange realised that she'd joined in, feeling a little embarrassed at her outburst. Levi looked across at the brat Kirito with a glare, making him shift in his seat, despite not knowing what he'd done wrong. However, the rest of those gathered at the table felt that their estimation sounded logical, and the fact they'd both separately thought of it convinced the group further. Each cautious to not hold their breath, but undeniably the morale of each and every individual was raised a little by this moment.

"You said you'd been expecting us, right?" Kimiko asked, thinking back to when they first met the four Squad Leaders; Erwin simply nodded, inviting Kimiko to continue. "How did you know we were coming?" Erwin smiled.

"I thought you might be wondering about that." He began, addressing her with a sense of nostalgia creeping into his tone. "That was another thing we found out from Eren, although that came a little later on; when he went up to room in the tower that you came from, he heard a loud voice, calling to him that reinforcements were on their way to support the Survey Corps. We knew nothing more than that – who, when, and so on – but we had hope."

"I assume that Akihiko Kayaba has been watching us closely then, we would've been on the penultimate floor at the time, probably nearly approaching the dungeon." Kimiko responded, assuming that Akihiko Kayaba had sent the message to the young boy, and was referring to the clearing group's advances.

"So..." Erwin affirmed, wanting to get back to the most important matter at hand, "Do you wish to form an Alliance between our Guilds?"

_Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Yard. (The Following Day)_

Erwin stood at the front of the gathered players. To his sides stood his most trusted comrades, Levi, Hange and Mike; directly in front of them stood the remaining members of the Survey Corps, along with the trainees that had arrived just a few months ago. Behind them, the newest arrivals, who were still yet to be exposed to the true horrors of this land, despite experiencing other such terrors on previous Levels.

"Today is a day we have long awaited." Erwin bellowed to the crowd, able to project his voice impressively. "Today, we travel outside the Wall, no longer caged in like animals: but free! We will fight back, we will find our escape from this god-forsaken game, and we will return to our friends and family! We have lost many along the way," He tried to block out the barrage of deaths he'd witnessed in this land, "but in their names we will succeed!"

Levi glared scornfully at his leader's speech, feeling it inappropriate of him to skirt around the fact that they were walking towards near-certain death. 'We've had these kinds of numbers before...' he thought, 'and we've always been pegged back.' However, an over-enthusiastic voice snapped him out of his latest wave of intense pessimism.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Hange asked jokingly, the crowd having been dismissed to prepare themselves – physically and emotionally – and round up the horses ready to depart. Her eyes, as ever, shone from behind her glasses, sparkling in the morning sun. Levi looked to the Wall, obstructing much of the sky from view, and heaved a deep, long sigh.

"Just wondering how long we'll last before Eyebrows calls a retreat again." Levi lamented, remembering the names and faces of all those that they had lost over the last three years. Hange smirked as she always did when Levi referred to their leader as Eyebrows.

"I have a good feeling about this." Mike's tone was monotonous and disinterested; the other two hadn't even realised his presence until he spoke, and no sooner had he finished speaking, he was gone once more. However, while the clearing group leaders were wary of Mike – and Levi – due to their lack of forthcoming-ness and warmth, the Survey Corps members understood each other's minds like family.

Everyone had their reasons. Everyone had their secrets.

"I'll keep an eye on you out there," Hange called to Levi, who couldn't quite tell if she was joking or not, due to her ever-over-enthusiastic tone "I won't let you get hurt!"

"Good luck with that. You _are _the one who has glasses." And with that, Levi strode off to prepare his horse.

_Level 100: Trost. Survey Corps Camp, Stable 3._

Sasha stroked the soft fur on the head of her chesnut horse, who she'd named Romeo after her real-life German Shepherd. She found stroking the virtual animal to be quite soothing, although she could still feel a nervous fit slowly building in the pit of her stomach; not only for her own wellbeing, but for the wellbeing – physically and mentally – of the new arrivals. One in particular, of course, had caught her eye.

She began to stroll around the side of the horse in order to get Romeo's saddle, but caught the edge of her foot on an uneven brick on the floor; she didn't have a hope at balancing, though in her furious attempts she did manage to hover for a few seconds, before plummeting face-first towards the slabbed floor: she shut her eyes and squealed.

But she did not land.

She opened her eyes, scrunching her nose in surprise, her face a metre or so away from the floor. She could feel a pair of strained arms tightly holding her waist, and looked up to see that those arms were, in fact, those that belonged to Klein. She let out a small gasp, her virtual body suddenly feeling an abnormal heat and numbness as she began to blush.

"Strong as I may be," Klein murmured in a strained voice, smiling over his gritted teeth at his own humour, "it'd be handy... if you stood up a little." With that, Sasha suddenly remembered the situation she'd temporarily left behind for a hazy whirlwind of emotion, straightening herself up; however, while he eased his grip a little – thanks to her now being able to support her own body – Klein wasn't so quick to release her from his embrace. Until she looked up at him.

Her big, beige eyes gazed into his own, instantly tearing away any confidence he felt, giving him butterflies in his virtual stomach and causing him to feel a little hot under the collar; he began to blush and instantly released his grip on Sasha's hips; she noticed, and threw herself into a tight hug, her head comfortably resting on his chest beneath his ever-more blushing head; his cheeks were now a similar colour to his headband. Both were greatly happy at this, desperate for this moment to continue on, despite the inescapable fact they were on a ticking timer that was getting ever-lower by the second.

"Thank you very much Klein." Sasha whispered, her voice muffled slightly by her close embrace with the taller player. She began to notice, as the embrace continued, that the contours of his body were well matched to those of her own, offering warmth and comfort from the horrors of the world the currently resided in. Both of their blushes began to fade as they realised that they could soon get very used to this, had the situation been different. Their blushes soon returned as they heard footsteps approaching into the stable; the two quickly shuffled apart, both feeling a sudden emptiness and coldness at losing each others' touch. Squad Leader Hange entered the stable, joining them as the only people in the vicinity.

"Hange!" Both called out, startled to the extent of resembling rabbits stuck in proverbial headlights. Hange simply giggled at the two, understanding by the scuffle of feet and bemused, blushing faces staring at her sheepishly what had been going on.

"As you were... unless you'd feel too shy!" She exclaimed jokingly, causing both players' blushes to intensify several times over. She smiled warmly at them, showing genuine happiness for the growing fondness they'd been experiencing since Klein's arrival. Hange had always liked Sasha and wanted the best for her; she was a kind girl, but Hange had noticed she was not the quickest to make friends over the past few months. She only wished that she could also experience such affection in this cruel world.

* * *

Sorry if this was too shippy for you, I feel like Sasha &amp; Klein would be a really nice pairing and would be a cute couple; if you don't like it, don't worry! It's not gonna be all over every chapter, but it's something I wanted to experiment with writing and have really enjoyed so far. Hopefully now we've finished all the introductions and meetings we can FINALLY get to the action, which - if you've been waiting for - well, so have I! Next chapter is gonna be fun but probably won't be as quick as this because it's gonna be action-y and that inevitably takes a little while to write!

**Fish on stick: **Not at all buddy! As I said, I'm always happy to receive feedback, I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from! To be honest, having Shadis train them would make sense and it's a good shout, I just chose to focus on the three (hence I'm not writing much about Mike either, he's neither here nor there for me) in terms of the flashbacks, which we'll get to some more in the future. Thanks for reading and reviewing as always, I hope you enjoy :)


	9. Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire?

_Level 100: Trost. The Gate._

Erwin and his fellow Squad Leaders each headed their own group of the players, ready to move out in a diamond formation of the different groups; the decision was made to have a variety of players in each groups, so as to include a mixture of the different skills and levels of players from the Survey Corps, the trainees and the clearing group in each division.

Levi sighed, having been stuck with the brat Kirito, and having had Erwin make him Levi's deputy, due to his "great skills, level and experience". What had really got to him was how everyone treated Kirito like some kind of saviour, "the Strongest Player in the game" like he was all that. 'Did everyone forget about all Titans I've taken down?' Levi sighed, sneering at the teen to his side, 'I'd like to see him try to do it.'

Klein had also been put into Levi's division, along with Miyu; the latter had wanted to remain with Kimiko in Erwin's division, but the two assured her she would be perfect for the Special Operations Squad. Klein was making use of his height to look around the groups to find his sweetheart amongst the nervy crowd. Instead, he found a sea of agonised souls putting on a brave face, for each other as much as themselves. 'Am I getting distracted?' He wondered, not wanting to let the group down and compromise the expedition, but also feeling a burning desire to protect the young girl he'd known just a few days. He could sense – for the first time so far – just how scared the Survey Corps were of going beyond the Wall. He knew the Titans were powerful, but just what were they getting themselves into?

"He'll be okay!" Hange reassured Sasha, causing her cheeks to redden slightly. Hange knew that those chosen for Levi's Squad – whether by Levi himself, or Erwin – were always some of the most talented people around; they often had very particular, specialist skills, that made them possibly the strongest division of the larger group, despite having slightly lower numbers. Sasha couldn't help but worry for the young man.

"I know I've not been outside the Wall since arriving," Sasha began, trying to focus on the operation at hand rather than Klein, "But they really don't know what they're in for, do they?" She didn't want to stoke the fire of fear; she could not deny that she was nervous, but she dreaded the crisis the clearing group would experience upon going outside. She'd heard the stories of the Survey Corps, why they were down to just 18 after beginning with 100 members. 'Maybe that's why Levi and Mike are always so sombre.' She wondered.

Erwin commanded his horse to push on; his group led closely behind, followed by Levi and Hange's groups, with Mike's division taking up the rear. As they approached Trost's Gate – broken through by Titans – each player marvelled at the realistic quality of the bricks and dust, the light breeze drifting through their capes; for a second, this felt like reality. It could be a tranquil horse ride through ruins in the countryside.

A sudden, stark reminder of the situation snapped the players out of such a daydream, as a Titan emerged in the gap that had once provided relative safety and security for the residents of Trost.

Despite seeing a few of these mobs just days ago, the clearing group members were taken aback by the sheer size of it; at least three times the size of any player, maybe more. Its features were a focus for many, craning their necks up to the gormless, distorted facial features of the creature sent shivers down their spines. Those shivers intensified exponentially as the eyes of the Titan lit up, widening like a lion having seen its prey; the huge figure began to trudge towards the group, each footstep causing physical and emotion shockwaves.

Without hesitation, Erwin pushed himself up to a crouching position on his horse's back, before throwing himself into the air, engaging his 3-D Manoeuvre Gear to clamp onto the Titan's left shoulder; Erwin swung himself round the side of its body, slicing his blade deep into the Titan's weakspot, the nape of the neck. The Titan began to falter immediately, falling to its knees before face-first through a small building; Erwin had jumped from its right shoulder onto a nearby rooftop, before dropping back to the floor almost casually, used to this form of combat. As he returned to his horse, he noticed that the clearing group members in his division were staring at him in admiration.

However, this was nothing to be admired. It was survival.

Erwin pressed on through the gate, the rest of the players following close behind. Nothing – not even their previous expeditions outside the gate – could have prepared them for what awaited: there were a few to their sides clawing at the Wall, and various dotted around in front of them as expected.

But no one had expected the herd of 20 storming towards them from their left.

"RUN!" Erwin roared, pushing his horse to gallop forwards frantically; not all of the expedition group were able to hear him, but all understood his sudden movement and began attempting to keep up, whilst also trying to dodge oncoming Titans. All of the players – even the more experienced Survey Corps members – became consumed with fear at the near-certain impending doom.

Some of the players' horses stumbled and fell underneath the players, the sudden stress proving too much; other players were not quite able to avoid the Titans' wrath, getting squashed, slapped or snatched as they tried to flee. Amongst the panic, none of the group were quite sure of how many had been lost: all they knew was that it was a considerable amount, screams and blue crystals surrounding the escape.

Erwin began to reach a clearing from the main group of Titans surrounding Trost, before turning his horse around and pausing his sprint for freedom. He bellowed with a volume and urgency no one had ever heard before. "EVERYONE! COME THIS WAY!"

Instantly he had the attention of all of his fellow expedition members that were still alive, and they began to converge towards him; he knew he had to turn tail and continue to burst into the clearing, or else the Titans would catch up to him and destroy the entire group. He had to hope there would still be a group to catch up to him.

Soon Levi, Hange and Mike had caught up to Erwin, riding alongside him in a V-style formation; Erwin chanced a glance back towards Trost, and was shocked at the numbers remaining.

Only about half had made it.

Erwin couldn't bear to look back for more than a second before he had to stare forwards into the unknown. 'So many lives... gone. And it's _your _fault.' Erwin criticised himself, reminding himself at how he should have sent forward a scout team, but had been so desperate to escape Trost, after having been stuck there for three years, desperate for reinforcements: for hope.

"I can't believe you actually did it." Levi called to Erwin, monotonous as ever but having to speak louder than a mumble – unusual for Levi – due to the sound of their desperate escape. Levi was surprised, not to mention impressed, that Erwin had the guts to push forwards, rather than retreating again.

Erwin decided to ignore Levi's comment, focussed on the land ahead, largely consisting of the beaten-down town that he recognised from the first expedition outside the Wall. However, Erwin's eyes soon zoned out from the buildings and waterway ahead and his vision was filled instead with a smiling Titan, with Shadis hanging limply out of its mouth. Erwin had spent a great deal of time with Shadis in the beta, and they had come to form a mutual trust, not to mention a great friendship; they had many similar traits and qualities, and thus were able to bond quickly. Both had been reassured among the uncertainty of the beginning of SAO by each others' presence.

But Shadis was dead.

A little further back in the group, Sasha was beginning to make her way across to a certain red-haired boy, whose height made it easy to find him as the initial chaos began to subside. The two continued on side-by-side, sharing a smile; Klein wanted to talk to her, but was unable to concentrate on riding his horse _and_ a conversation, and he didn't fancy falling to the floor. However, to his side a Titan began to approach them; Klein didn't notice, but his horse did.

Klein's horse bucked, throwing its front legs into the air; however, Sasha was able to react quickly and throw out her hand to Klein, whose arms were flailing above his head. She caught his wrist and pulled ferociously to drag him through the air onto her horse; it wasn't graceful, but as his horse got stamped on in the background, he was grateful.

"Twice!" He called out, feigning disbelieving frustration. She glanced to him, puzzled. "I owe you my life twice, already!" He added, unable to continue the joke and instead letting his true thanks shine through; she turned to him to wave it off, but couldn't help but snigger at his infectious grin. Klein looked back to see Kirito and Asuna meeting up, with Lisbeth and Agil slightly behind them. He sighed with a relief that the four of them had made it; he tried to look around for his Fuurinkazan guildmates, and was able to pick out the tall frame of Kunimittz alongside the rounder body of Dale, along with a few others that he assumed to be his other friends. Klein counted his lucky stars, but knew that this may not always be the case. He gulped and hoped for the best, clutching onto the shoulders of the girl in front of him for dear life.

_Level 100: Trost. The Forest of Giant Trees._

A while later, the remaining members of the group begin to approach a large forest at the end of a long field; the trees are larger than usual – at least 25 foot tall – and consisted of tall, bare barks for much of that height, with a small section near the top bearing the leaves. A hundred metres or so from the entrance to the forest, Erwin began to slow his horse, calling the rest of the expedition group to a halt. When they left, the Survey Corps had 18 members – including the Squad Leaders – while there were 12 trainees, and there had been around 40 members of the Clearing Group led by Kimiko.

Erwin began to look around the crowd of players in front of him, counting internally how many remained, slowly being eaten up by those that had been lost under his command. The Survey Corps had lost three members – Lynne, Ellie and Ralph – while they'd also lost four Trainees – Ymir, Krista, Connie and Armin – and almost twenty of the Clearing Group, though those close to Kimiko had survived, along with the leader herself. Erwin made a note of all of those from the Survey Corps that died under his command, but now there were some he didn't know. And the Trainees... basically kids. It killed him inside, but he had to swallow such feelings to address the crowd before him.

Erwin looked to the sky and could see that nightfall was close; it wasn't safe around Titans in the day time, but after dark would mean even greater chance of death. Erwin cleared his throat a little, glancing towards the other Squad Leaders for a second. He was usually so assured, but here he felt nervous.

"Nightfall is approaching. I believe the best course of action is to take to the trees for the night; we should be out of the Titans' reach, and may not even be detected if we are quiet." He turned to his side to address two of the Squad Leaders, "Hange, Mike: would you two mind taking a few others to find somewhere for the horses to go?" Hange and Mike nodded, before Erwin continued, "the rest of you will follow me and Levi up to the treetops, where we'll settle for the night."

Hange and Mike selected ten others from the expedition group to look for a safe haven for the horses; Henning, Rico, Darius and Samuel from the Survey Corps joined them, accompanied by Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Mikasa, Jean and Marco of the Trainees. They rode into the forest with the others' horses in tow, looking around for somewhere to leave the horses in overnight.

Soon after, they came across a small ditch, leading to a cave-like underground shelter: Mike gestured to Hange, and the two led the group into the cave, before tying up the horses within; the cave was tall enough for the players to stand in easily, but small enough to offer protection to the horses from Titans; the horses were also largely shrouded in darkness, and the players hoped this would also aid their safety.

Once the horses were all safely concealed, the players made their way to the treetops to avoid any roaming Titans on their way back to the rest of the group; as she landed on a thick branch, Hange looked down at the intricate gear around her waist, her mind transported back to the invention of such technology.

_Level 100: Trost. (14 Months After Launch Day)_

Erwin burst into the room, a rare show of excitement from the ever-composed guild leader; Levi and Mike followed closely. Though they wouldn't admit it, they were desperate to know if Hange had really done it.

"Well?" Erwin questioned, forgetting his manners in this moment of thrilling anticipation. He clasped his hands, standing over Hange as she sat trembling at her desk, as excited as the other three combined; she was desperate to show them. She reached under the desk, pulling out a jumble of canisters and ropes; the others in the room looked on, perplexed, but trusting in the intelligence of the female Squad Leader.

She held the bundle high above her head, proclaiming its magnificence to anyone who could see; she then realised the confused faces of those around her, and decided showing would be much more exciting than just explaining.

"Mike, will you open that window for me please?" She called out, beginning to strap the canisters to her hips, before realising she couldn't quite reach. "Hey Levi, give us a hand?" She giggled at his disapproving glare, before he strutted over and tied the canisters tightly to her hips. She untangled some of the other straps, before gripping them tightly in her hands. "Watch this!" She squealed with excitement, jumping onto a bench and then throwing herself out of the open window.

Erwin, Levi and Mike rushed to the window, watching as a couple of grappling hooks shot out from the canisters and gripped to a nearby building, pulling Hange from her descent into a graceful swing back to safety on the roof opposite them. The three were filled with hope, sharing a rare smile together at the great success of Hange's creation. After months of work, she'd been able to create some gear that would allow them to attack – and escape – the Titans more easily.

Hange was grinning from ear to ear, crouching on the tiled roof and looking at the impressed expressions of her comrades; she'd believed she'd reached a breakthrough, but now it had worked she was certain this would change everything. Her adrenaline rush made her want to swing from roof to roof, even climb the great Wall if she could, but instead she stayed rooted there, taking in the moment of pride.

However, in the back of her mind were the faces of those for whom this development had come too late. In 14 months, they'd lost around half of the original Survey Corps members, and this would not bring them back. She just had to hope that this would reduce the future casualties at the hands of Titans. Little did she know, another ten would die before SAO's second anniversary.

* * *

**A/N: Hopefully you enjoyed this, sorry if a few bits are a little rushed/skipped over (like the horses' shelter), I prioritised other bits over that :/ also, the first bit within the gate was written at college, so there's a little fun trivia for you! Please review, it's always good to hear from readers :) the next chapter might be little while because I'm about to have loads of UCAS things on top of general homework, and I want the next chapter to be really great because it's gonna be a little emotional; there's some pre-SAO stuff about an SnK character's SAO universe backstory...hopefully that makes sense xD see ya soon!**


	10. Siege

_Level 100: Trost. The Forest of Giant Trees._

The air was cool, and darkness had fallen. The survivors from the escape from Trost had all been silently asleep atop the trees for several hours, save for the slight splutter and squirm; each of them was far too exhausted to properly wake from their slumber, emotionally and physically drained from the experiences of the past day.

There was one, however, who awoke earlier than the rest. Levi was particularly used to feeling drained, and had grown used to having little sleep. His eyes began to flutter open as he sat, resting against the main body of the tree with his legs outstretched. He looked around, seeing that the sun had not yet risen, and that his comrades were still asleep. His hands impulsively came up to his head, rubbing rashly on his eyes as he had continued to do out of habit for three years, despite the fact that it had no impact on his virtual self. He looked to the small clock in the corner of his HUD, seeing that it was just after 3AM; 'We won't be getting up and moving soon,' he thought, 'I might as well go back to sleep.'

That was when he began to tune in to the sounds around him. There was no birdsong, no heavy breathing from the avatars around him, not even so much as a whistle from the wind through the leaves and branches. However, a low, guttural groan was coming from below; he peered over the edge of the thick branch on which he was perched.

Below, he saw Titans: not clearly, as he had been able to see the previous day, but the faint outlines in the shadows, darker patches in the mysterious abyss below him. He could make out several, thumping along in different directions, but had to assume there were other, smaller Titans that he was unable to see, given the conditions.

Quickly, Levi crouched up on the branch and gazed across to see if Hange – who'd been sleeping on a parallel branch – was ok; all seemed fine there, so he quickly leapt to the other end of that branch to get a better scan of the area. Visibility was still poor, but he could make out even more in the vicinity, and there looked to be no easy way out of this. Luckily, the Titans hadn't spotted them yet. His mind didn't consider that fact though.

'Surely there's no way out of this one. There's too many, and we don't have our horses, and we have weakened numbers, and some of them are only new to this, and most of the people we've known on this level have died at the hands of Titans, and now we will too, this is it this is it this is it this is it **WAIT **no this can't be it, we have to make it out **I HAVE TO MAKE IT OUT** I have to get back to the real world, I have to have to have to have to **I FUCKING HAVE TO. **Otherwise I'll never see them again.'

With that, Levi began sob, and then the floodgates were open and a tsunami of pent-up agony was released in a tidal wave of tears. He slumped into a foetal position on the thick branch, dangling almost tantalisingly as bait for the Titans as the grumbled and groaned below him.

His mind was travelling to a far off land, but his ears were very much rooted to that world and those monsters.

_London, England. (Seven Years Ago)_

"COMING THROUGH!" The nurses yelled, and various men and women of various kinds began to shuffle to the sides of the pristine corridor of the hospital; Levi was rushing behind a group of nurses who were pushing along the temporary hospital bed used for transporting patients towards the ward. Levi was flushed with a nervous excitement, just as exhilarated as the first time, a few years earlier. He swept one of his long strands of hair out of his eyes, before turning a corner onto the ward.

The nurses shuffled the bed into a quiet area, out of sight of other workers or patients. One handed Levi a stool, gesturing for him to sit at the bedside while they shuffled around and prepared in their plasticky blue overalls. Levi looked across to the woman on the bed; she was conscious but drifting, her vivid hazel eyes rolling every so often towards the ceiling before coming back round to smile feebly at him; her luscious brown hair cushioned her delicate head on the pillow, protecting her porcelain skin.

Another woman walked into the space, beaming at the two of them; it was the same woman from 3 years ago with Farlan. Maria was in no position really for a reunion, but Levi smiled back, reassured by her presence.

"Good afternoon, Mr &amp; Mrs Kamiya! How are you? Oh-oh-oh and how's Farlan?" she rushed the greeting excitedly, unable to hide her joy at seeing the couple again, while also conveying her impatience at this process; while it was her job to assist with the transition, she _much_ preferred babies _after_ they'd been born.

"Afternoon, Jenny! A little nervous," Levi began with a sigh, before gripping Maria's hand in his own, "we can't wait though; neither can he!" Maria managed a feeble smile, but the pain was building at an unbearable rate. Jenny and the nurses made the preparations around the couple, as Levi continued to provide moral support for his wife, who gripped tightly to his hand like the baby's life depended on it.

Once all was in place, Jenny asked Maria to push: she didn't need a second invitation. Maria has been through this process once before, but it didn't make it any more comfortable; the only comfort was that she knew in great detail how much the future greatness would be worth the pain of childbirth, and that – allowing with crushing her husband's hand – helped her through, as she released the baby into Jenny's arms, and into the world.

Jenny lifted up the baby having cut the umbilical cord, showing off a fairly small young girl to the couple in her arms; she had large green eyes, and a few tufts of reddish-brown hair just above her forehead. The child cried a little, but Jenny handed her over to Levi, who perched himself onto the side of the bed alongside Maria, giving her a closer look at their second child, their newborn baby girl. The child stopped crying, pondering for a second as she looked over their faces; she then broke out into a great, toothless smile, reaching towards Levi's hair with exploratory hands. She could barely grip his hair, but the three smiled and Jenny giggled from the foot of the bed.

"Isabel." Maria was able to mumble, still exhausted from the act of giving birth. "I think we... should call her Isabel." Levi smiled, kissing Maria on the forehead.

"Isabel," he looked into the child's eyes, "we're going to have lots of fun together!" He exclaimed, before giggling with her and kissing her on the forehead. However, as Levi replayed these memories, he could still hear the groans of the Titans in the back of his mind.

_London, England. (Six Years Ago)_

There was pizza everywhere. The porcelain plates, the oak table, the previously pristine carpets, the recently painted walls, the top of the TV; somehow, someway, there was even a slight pizza mark on the ceiling. Levi looked around, his every sense going crazy at the sight of the mess, the thought of the possible stains: he could barely take it.

Levi looked down at his hands, noticing the remains of a pizza he had been holding, which was now scrunched between his fingers and dripping onto his shoes. Levi's brain snapped, and he quickly glanced around for something to tidy himself up with; he would not be embarrassed by food in such a way. Regardless of the celebrations, he had to clean up. He **had** to.

Levi's eyes began to flutter open, taking in an influx of warm colour; he could see his beautiful wife sat beside him with their baby girl on her lap, their young boy sat on the floor in front of him, and absolutely no pizza – or mess – in sight, in the early afternoon sunlight within the living room. The magnolia walls were in pristine condition after Levi's tireless work the past week. The table was clean and tidy, barely any mess to differentiate it from its catalogue pictures. The carpet was clean, though less tidy than the rest of the room due to the little boy playing down there; out of the corner of his tired eyes, Levi could see a little wrapping paper on the floor, but it was nothing compared to that pizza.

"Are you okay baby?" Maria asked, concerned for her zoned out husband.

"Yeah... just a nightmare!" Levi responded, brushing off the concern with a light chuckle.

Farlan tugged at Levi's trouser leg, begging him to play with him; Levi shuffled himself down onto the floor beside his young son, before reaching out and playing with the brand new action figures alongside him; the family were happy and all was good, even if just for one day.

As the memory of Farlan's fourth birthday began to fade out – the colours and warmth draining from his memory until he reached an eerie, cold black – Levi could feel a tear rolling down his cheek and dropping from the treetops within SAO. He wondered how he'd ever managed to live without them, how he'd been able to survive these years. And those before.

Levi whimpered slightly, terrified having realised what was coming next. He wondered why; 'Why must my brain torture me like this?' But there was no stopping this emotional onslaught. Slowly but surely, the colours began to return in his memory, though this was not to be such a happy memory.

_London, England. (Four Years Ago)_

Levi sat on the edge of the large, comfortable bed, head in his hands. 'Good job Levi, you've **really** fucked up this time.' His internal critic pointed out, again. 'How could you say that, man? I know she was being loud, but seriously?' He could hear Maria trying her best to calm down Isabel, who was still crying the house down. Maria called Farlan over to look after the young girl, before storming her way towards the bedroom where Levi was sat.

The door swung open, and Maria stormed straight past Levi. She didn't look at him, she didn't say a word, she just walked by. Levi turned his head to look at her, seeing that she'd grabbed a large holdall bag out from the wardrobe; the next thing he knew, the bag was on his lap.

"Go on. Pack some things." Maria stated, her voice shaking as she held back a tidal wave of tears. Levi was shocked and unable to react, falling into a stunned trance. "**DO IT!**" She shrieked, before bursting out of the room and into the bathroom. Levi could hear her sobbing as he gathered some clothes from his draws and piled them up into the bag.

Having packed a few other necessities, Levi closed the bag and slowly lifted it up onto his shoulder. The bag was heavy, but he'd been carrying weight of the world on his shoulders too long to notice; he trudged towards the kids' bedrooms to say goodbye, not really knowing what was going to happen in the next days, weeks... months?

He reached the doorframe of Isabel's room, seeing his young son calmer her tears. He wanted to apologise, but was cut off by Maria, who pushed past him and stood directly between him and the children. "Get. Out." She whispered through gritted teeth, the fury far more overcoming than just an undertone.

"Please, let me say goodbye, apologise." Levi stuttered, desperate to see his children once more before he had to leave.

"I said get out." Maria almost whispered this time, with not a single hint of weakness or indecision in her tone.

"Please, not in front of the children." Levi pleaded, but to no avail. Maria began to push him back out of the room, towards the stairs that led down to the front door.

"Leave." She uttered simply, "And don't come back." She nodded towards the door, before turning back and checking on the children. She heard Levi's footsteps begin to approach the room – preparing herself to yell at him once more – but he stopped, shuffled around and began to stagger down the stairs. His eyesight was impaired by the stream of tears that made their way down the cracks and crevices of the broken man's face, just as they were in SAO. However, while watching himself trudge down the street away from his home, he could hear the groans and moans of Titans even more prominently than before; they were getting closer, but he was stuck in this trip through his own mind: he could only wonder what the situation was in the treetops.

_London, England. (Three and a Half Years Ago)_

Farlan and Isabel sat in the living room, awkwardly fidgeting. Despite their childish naivety, they knew that something was different today; Levi, too, was sat in the living room, silently replaying the speech he'd crafted in his mind. He was torn over whether to go through with it or not, but he had no choice. Not anymore.

Watching his past self tear out his hair over this decision was agonising, though it was more painful for Levi to watch himself wasting precious time with his children; by this point they'd already been taken from him for the most part, but he had them here with him, but was sat in silence. 'How could I have been such an idiot, not to realise that the precious little time I had was better than nothing at all?' he wondered, wishing senselessly that his past self would not make the decision he already knew that he had.

There was a rap on the door, and Farlan and Isabel both jumped up to greet the oncoming person; Levi simply called out that the door wasn't locked, at which point it swung open. Maria strutted in confidently, ready to collect the children from having stayed in the small, stuff apartment and bring them back to the comfortable home they used to all share. She gasped at what she found.

The children were standing greeting her, but Levi was sat against the far wall clutching his legs with his head sunk into his knees. The room was messy, with newspapers and other clutter sprawled across the small table and onto the floor. The walls, the floor, the ceiling were all dusty and dirty, and this did not look anything like a place Levi would stay in for more than a few minutes unless forced.

Farlan and Isabel edged towards Maria, eager to leave despite their undying love for their father. However, Levi finally cleared his throat.

"I'm leaving." He muttered, unable to raise his voice any louder.

The three others turned around in shock to look at him for further explanation, while Levi himself sighed as he watched the greatest mistake of his life play out once more.

"What do you mean?" Maria probed; she'd figured by the appearance of the apartment that his life had taken a downward turn since she'd kicked him out, separated and she'd received primary custody of the children, but she didn't know what he was up to now.

"I-" Levi began, his words caught in his throat, but he forced himself on. "I'm going back to Japan. For work." He brought his head up to see the three shocked faces in front of him. "I'm sorry."

"Look, Hiro. We'll talk about this another time. I don't think it's a good conversation to have in front of the children." Maria rushed out of her mouth, but Levi clicked his tongue in disapproval, before sniggering slightly under his breath.

"Oh? So it's fine to kick me out the fucking house in front of them, but not to say goodbye? Twice? Get the fuck out of my house Maria." Levi uttered, a great anger throbbing through the words as he spat them out into the atmosphere.

Maria breathed in a deep sigh of shock at Levi's outburst, before taking both of the children's hands and turning sharply towards the door. Isabel looked back over her shoulder at her father for the last time, before being pulled out of the apartment by Maria. They were gone.

Levi's head sunk back into his knees, his hands gripping his hair tightly as he heard the apartment door slam. This position was recreated with his SAO avatar in the treetops, while he cried watching these flashbacks.

_Tokyo, Japan. (Three Years Ago)_

Levi could see his own face reflected back in the glass in front of him, but it was distorted. The whiskey bloated his sharp features, while the pile of ice cubes fracturing the reflection like broken glass. He couldn't remember what he'd already drunk, but he didn't really care either. He never did.

Little did Levi know that on the next barstool sat himself, watching himself wallow in regret. Levi recognised the feeling; this cocktail of self loathing, lament and stagnation lasted months, though it felt like a drunken blur without this crystal clear picture of recollection. Levi looked into his younger eyes, seeing a lack of hope; his eyes were empty, devoid of any brightness or emotion.

Meanwhile, the younger Levi took another drink of whiskey, slipping further into the nightly oblivion he found himself in. The job hadn't gone as planned, and he'd been let go. He found a job at a small store, but it was run down and didn't pay well. Levi stayed in a rented room, but spent most of his time outside work in a bar, not always able to pay the bill by the time he'd finished, either through lack of money or cognitive functioning due to the alcohol he'd consumed.

This was his life now, he had almost accepted it.

From his pocket, he grabbed a small rectangular box; he rested it on the bar, and both Levis could see the title, reading it simultaneously: _Sword Art Online_.

"Tomorrow's the day." Levi murmured, before finishing off the latest drink. He looked forward to having a break from this god forsaken existence, though he could never have known how long a break it would turn out to be. He just hoped that the stolen NerveGear would register fine. Levi stood up, wanting to take a closer look at his past counterpart, but his senses soon when into overdrive; his vision became a blanket of blinding white light, his every muscle buzzing and burning, his ears overwhelmed with screeching tones.

_Level 100: Trost. The Forest of Giant Trees._

Suddenly, Levi was back in the world of Sword Art Online, in the treetops he'd left to engage in the series of flashbacks. He briefly glanced at his HUD, which told him it was 7.13AM; he'd been gone around four hours. His mind was still buzzing erratically, trying to catch up to the fact he was back. That was when he realised he could feel a hand on his shoulder.

Levi turned his head sharply, realising that that was probably what had woken him. He could see Hange crouching next to him, the owner of the hand; she seemed somewhat blurry, before she reached out her other hand, containing a handkerchief. He took it gratefully, wiping his teary cheeks and eyes; there was no need for words as he unfurled himself from the foetal position he'd adopted on the treetop. Her eyes then drift past him to below the treetops; he follows her nervous gaze, seeing the other remaining players cowering on other branches above the Titans, now clearly visible in the early morning sunlight.

They'd not only been spotted, but the Titans had begun to attack the tree barks lower down, sending some trees tumbling and smaller branches falling below. The players had no escape from these beasts; the siege had begun.

* * *

**dicarten-ice:** thanks! Always glad to hear people are enjoying it :)

** Sorry it wasn't quick, with tying up the end of the college year it took longer than I'd hoped to fit it in :s also I just started a new job so for a few weeks I had college 5 days and two jobs over friday evening &amp; the weekend... summer now though! Hopefully I'll be updating this &amp; Laxus Tail a bit more often :) Thanks for reading, so give it a review. You know you wanna :p**


	11. A Never Ending Nightmare

**A/N: Hey everyone! I just wanted to post two quick things: 1) some of the characters from now on will be OCs, while some have names/likenesses to SnK characters (e.g. Darius) but are basically OCs as well, I just thought it'd be a nice touch to use names/likenesses from the actual series. 2) I don't wanna be THAT guy, but Koduka's story "Switching Sides" is great so go read it and then review telling her to hurry up with the next chapter! That's all really, but I hope you enjoy this and please review, I love hearing from people!**

* * *

_Level 100: Trost. The Forest of Giant Trees_

The treetops were filled with the panic of the players that had survived the escape from Trost the day before. They had woken from their sleep to find that they were surrounded by Titans below. These Titans had not only discovered they were there, but they weren't just waiting for their prey to make a move; they had begun to attack the tree trunks in order to either knock the players off balance or break the trees to claim their lives.

Erwin looked around nervously, unsure of how to get out of this predicament; with the stakes so high, they needed an escape plan, and they needed it now. The first idea he'd come up with seemed to be the only viable option.

"EVERYONE!" He yelled, commanding their attention despite the loud groans from below, "WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SCATTER! GET AWAY FROM HERE, BUT DON'T GO ALONE! WHEN YOU ESCAPE THE TITANS HERE, MAKE YOUR WAY SOUTH TO SHIGANSHINA! GO!"

With that, even greater panic ensued. However, the players – even those from the Clearing Group who had not long arrived – had to trust in his judgement. This was likely the best way to survive, as even if a group was caught by Titans, the others may be able to escape.

The players bundled equipment and supplies into their Inventories quickly, but many left at least some of these items behind due to nervous instinct to get away from the area.

Erwin and Mike watched for a few moments as players scrambled and scampered, before turning and engaging their 3D Manoeuvre Gear into the thick branches that surrounded them, swinging through the trees away from the bulk of the Titan threat. Nine other players followed the two Squad Leaders, banking on them as a safe option for survival. Gunther and Eld – originally of Levi's Special Ops Squad – along with Darius and Gustav of the Survey Corps, who'd been in Trost with the others from the very beginning. Reiner, Bertolt and Annie of the trainees had also joined, who had grown close to Mike over the past few months, and two members of the Clearing Group had also joined; Brock and Luther didn't know much about the people they were going along with, but they felt confident with the Survey Corps' Leader.

Just as he began to catch up to the group – who were naturally more at home on the 3DMG having had months (or years) more practice – Brock was plucked out of the air by a jumping Titan, before being bitten in half by its oversized, asymmetrical mouth. While his body disappeared instantly into small blue crystals, his scream rang on long in the ears of the group that continued to move ahead.

"They can jump now?" Mike probed Erwin, more out of surprise than the hope of Erwin knowing any better than he did. Never before had they seen a Titan that could do that.

"Maybe they're programmed to adapt to our actions?" Erwin called back, trying to focus on not letting any more of those under his command die, knowing he'd already failed once today.

Mike and Erwin continued to lead the way for the group, with the Survey Corps members and trainees behind; however, Eld and Gunther had moved to the back of the group in order to offer some protection to Luther, who was naturally a little slower than his more experienced counterparts.

Luther was a young man in his early twenties, though his macho-sounding username was clearly a facade he'd developed for SAO before it turned out that players' avatars resembled their real-life bodies. He was quite skinny; not unhealthily so, but the kind of person you wouldn't expect to have been to a gym any time in the recent past. He had big, hazel eyes and a long bob of hair that matched; it flowed in the wind as he swung from tree to tree, desperate to keep up with those ahead, but equally grateful for the Special Ops' presence behind him. He had been a valued member of the Knights of the Blood Oath, but had never been particularly close to Heathcliff and Kimiko, and thus was not a highly ranking member despite his loyalty.

"Erwin." Mike called simply, addressing his superior to bring him out of his intense focus. When Erwin briefly glanced to him before returning his gaze to the trees ahead, Mike continued. "What are we going to do when we get out of the forest," Erwin was puzzled, having explained that they would continue to Shiganshina as a rendezvous. He was about to explain this – again – before Mike followed up his question.

"When we have no horses?"

* * *

Hange offered her hand out to Levi as he sat watching the Titans groaning; he gratefully accepted it. Hange then pointed out an area below them where there were fewer Titans, and they set off into the unknown. Hange glanced over her shoulder as she swung, seeing that they'd been joined by Petra and Oluo from Levi's Squad, along with Luke, Nanaba and Henning from the Survey Corps.

Luke had been in Hange's Squad for the entirety of his time in SAO, and was a tall young man with chin-length brown hair swept back in a ponytail that flew out behind him as he swung through the trees. Nanaba had been a part of Mike's Squad, and shared his quiet disposition most of the time, often lost in her own thoughts. She had short blonde hair in a centre parting, while her sharp blue eyes were locked on those in front of her, making sure they weren't swept away by the Titans below. Henning was a more stocky man, with a sharp cheekbones and jaw; his short, brown hair was swept backwards, though appeared spiked due to its shortness. He'd been a part of Mike's Squad along with Nanaba, and in truth, he wanted to remain with Mike and Erwin, but couldn't be sure he'd make it to them without getting caught.

They made their way through the trees, remaining high enough to be out of the Titans' reach, although they didn't really know where they were going; Levi's attention still hadn't caught up fully to the situation, while Hange worked more on instinct that plans.

Levi's brain was still consumed with images of Isabel, Farlan and Maria. He felt an intense longing for his children, wanting to stop all this madness and see them, hold them. This wasn't how he felt for Maria anymore: he knew it had failed and they weren't meant for each other. And by now, she'd have probably found some-

The grappling hook from Levi's 3DMG missed the next tree trunk, and he began to freefall towards the Titans below, who were virtually salivating at the prospect of a free meal. They began to reach up with their long, slim arms to catch him for themselves, battling it out for this prize snack.

Levi's arms and legs began to flail, his 3DMG stalling and unable to fire as he repeatedly – desperately – clutched at the triggers in his hands. The mental image of his kids began to intensify as time appeared to slow during his descent, with his internal critic screaming out.

**'they'll never see their dad again they'll never see their dad again how could you you promised me you promised YOU PROMISED'**

His descent then ended as he was plucked out of the air.

* * *

Kirito took off from the branch as soon as Erwin's command ended, rushing over to find where Asuna had been resting; Lisbeth and Agil also headed there to meet up, and arrived just after Kirito. Kirito embraced Asuna, physically reassuring her that they'd be okay. As the hug ended – more quickly that either would have liked due to the urgency of the situation – Kirito saw that Dale and Kunimittz of Fuurinkazan had joined them on the branch, along with Julia, Shawn and Rick from the Clearing Group.

Julia and Rick were close companions of Fuurinkazan; despite being members of the Knights of the Blood Oath, they tended to unwind between battles with Dale, Kunimittz and the others rather than their own guildmates. Julia's blonde hair was tied back roughly in a clip that matched her guild colours, while Rick's hair was devoid of any hair, just as in real life. Both had welcoming, rounded features, making their appearances match their personalities: both were as upbeat and easy-going as they could be in this world, which allowed them to get along with Fuurinkazan's members so well.

Meanwhile, few knew much about Shawn other than his appearance, which was something he seem to put much effort into; he had shaggy brown hair hanging down to his chin, with a matching beard that extended all the way up to his upper lip in wispy curls. He was a quiet, mysterious character that got on with his business and didn't have much to do with anyone; there were rumours among some players that he had been part of a small guild – not too dissimilar to Fuurinkazan – but once they'd all died in SAO he retreated into himself until he became the enigmatic solo player he now was.

Kirito led the group off into the trees, followed by the other Clearing Group members that had put their faith him once again. Suddenly, they were joined from behind by two of the trainees that had protected them from the Titan threat they had arrived to when they first came to Trost. Jean and Marco caught up to the Clearing Group members quickly, flanking Kirito and Asuna at the front of the party.

"Hey Kirito!" Marco yelled in greeting, his voice almost lost in the rushing air as they swung tree-to-tree.

"We can take you to the cave where we stored the horses if you want." Jean added, and Kirito and Asuna dropped back behind the pair in response. They knew that without horses they wouldn't be going far past the edge of the forest.

Jean and Marco veered slightly to the left of the group's original direction, with a trail of slightly slower players following behind like a tail, twisting and turning between Titan arms and tree branches in a slalom of life and death.

Eventually, Jean and Marco began to slow down and edge closer to the ground, cautiously picking lower branches away from the Titans so as not to be eaten during their descent. Jean was the first to reach the ground; there was a soft crinkle as his boots came into contact with the dry grass that provided the base level of the forest. Marco, Kirito and then the rest followed him back to solid ground, and they could soon see that below a lower-hanging tree's leaves, a small cave was hidden; it was around 2 metres tall, and around 10 metres deep. The players were all on edge: the forest was swarming with Titans and they were practically asking to be eaten or crushed by remaining on foot for too long.

Marco and Jean continued to lead the way, with Kirito, Asuna, Agil and Lisbeth providing immediate combat support, flanking the pair in a V-formation.

* * *

Erwin called the group to a halt, each landing in turn on a couple of thick, parallel until all ten players had congregated above the groaning Titans below. They formed a circular assembly, waiting for Erwin to address them. First, Erwin took a moment to register those who'd joined him in escaping: whose hands he'd be putting his life in. It also gave Luther a moment to see who he had joined on this journey.

Erwin, Mike, Gunther and Eld were players he already knew well from back in Trost, while Reiner, Bertolt and Annie had helped to protect the new arrivals such as Luther himself during the Titan invasion in Trost. The other two, however, were less familiar to Luther.

Stood directly opposite him was Gustav: a tall, broad-shouldered man of mid-twenties. His side-swept brown hair and light hazel eyes – combined with the green cape and brown underclothes – meant that he could have blended into the landscape, had it not been for his strong presence. His face had a youthful quality – despite a sharp jawline – and he seemed to be well trusted by the other members of the group.

On the edge of the group nearest to the tree trunks was a Darius of the Survey Corps, who was a much shorter, older man: he was by no means elderly, but was nearer the top end of the players who could succeed in such a physically demanding game in his late forties. He had greyish-black hair swept behind his head, with a bushy greying beard to match.

"Mike, you and a few of the others here hid the horses away last night, right?" Erwin probed.

"Yes. Darius and the three Trainees helped last night."

"Could you lead us back to the cave?"

Mike simply nodded, before looking to each of the others who'd accompanied him the previous night; Mike trusted and believed in each, but could tell that he would be the navigator on this return trip. Erwin gestured forwards to Mike, who took off into the trees, leading the group onwards.

Mike dodged a variety of Titans and trees, before landing on a tree branch and waiting for the other players of the group to catch up to his position: they stood in line along the thick branch, barely able to hear their own thoughts over the top of the guttural groans of the swarm of Titans in front of them. The cave had been surrounded, with Titans scrabbling past each other to try and reach into the cave. Erwin turned to Mike, disheartened by the fact the horses were surely gone.

"There are still horses there!" Gustav yelled in a desperate tone, "Otherwise the Titans wouldn't still be scrabbling!"

* * *

The hands grasping Levi felt strange; they seemed too small, too gentle. He opened his eyes, and he could see slithers of the sky through the gaps in the tree cover; he glanced left and right, seeing that Titans had not clutched him, ready to devour, but in fact Oluo and Hange were gripping his arms to their own, using the momentum of the swing to carry him away from the angry mobs below.

Each had wrapped their arm around his just below the shoulder, allowing them to keep a firm grip without letting him dangle below them, tantalisingly close to the desperate reach of the Titans. They brought him up to a tree branch where the other four that they'd been travelling with so far had been waiting momentarily. They landed on the branch, releasing their grip on Levi but holding him steady, as he still didn't seem able to focus on the situation at hand.

"Petra, Oluo." Hange whispered, almost as if to shield Levi's ears from the words she was about to say. "There's a particularly outstanding tree there; it looks tall enough to be out of the Titan's reach and thick enough to withstand their attacks. Plus it looks fun to climb!" They glanced at each other before returning their gaze to the slightly mad Squad Leader. "The others should be fine, but I want you guys to look after this guy, right?" Gesturing with her head towards Levi, though no clarification was really needed as to who needed looking after. Levi was beginning to come round – his eyes were losing the glazed layer – and so the group moved out.

Hange led the way, followed by Luke, Nanaba and Henning, who followed her as she used 3DMG to swing up the branches of the "outstanding" tree as if she were a trapeze artist, before having to disengage the gear in favour of edging her way up using blades to dig in and pull herself up. Every few advances, she glanced back to check on the three backing her up, but more importantly how Oluo and Petra were doing trying to haul Levi up as well as themselves.

Levi's brain had caught up to his body, though he still seemed to be in a stunned state, unable to move as swiftly or fluidly as he usually was. Petra and Oluo did not want to let him go it alone, for fear of him slipping up once more, but were grateful for the movement he was able to contribute to the agonising climb.

'You almost got yourself killed there, idiot.' He pointed out to himself, blocking out the yearning groans of the Titans below. 'How would that have made the situation better? Hey? You're a **coward**.' Extra emphasis was placed onto that word, making it ring through his head for a few moments as he was guided through the treetops. 'If you had've died then, how the fuck do you think you would've seen them again, huh? You would've died a stupid, meaningless death after 3 years of fighting to get back to them, at the point where you're closest to getting there. Scum.'

Hange reached the top, finding it to be a similar height to the Wall they'd left behind that surrounded Trost. The Survey Corps members soon joined her at the top, eventually followed by Levi and his climbing partners. As they approached the top, Hange pulled Levi up by his arms in order to relieve the other two of the pressure.

The top of the tree was somewhat like a platform: while there were a few branches, it looked more like the tree had been cut long ago, providing a flat, round top that they could settle on. The tree towered over many of the others in the forest – although they could see a few others like it – but they could not see any of the other players scattering through the forest due to the thick canopy of leaves.

* * *

Jean saw inside the cave first, becoming disheartened at the realisation of the extent of the struggle they were about to face. He sighed a little, continuing on into the dim cave. Hiding at the other end were eight nervous horses, crouched and scared; they'd lost the majority of the horses that had been left here overnight.

"Great. Most have either died or abandoned." Jean lamented, looking back to the ten others he was stuck with.

"At least there's still eight..." Kirito mumbled.

"Hey, maybe some of the others were here but left the horses for us?" Marco called out, looking at the bright side as he often did. Jean glared at him behind his back, begrudged to admit that he admired his fellow trainee's undying optimism, despite also seeing him as delusional in his outlook.

All eleven had entered the cave, each trying to bond with the horses and calm them, so that they'd be able to continue their journey onto Shiganshina. Julia and Rick were towards the back of the group, only around halfway into the cave, discussing how they were lucky to have met up with Dale and Kunimittz of Fuurinkazan: their luck then ran out.

A huge Titan hand entered the cave, reaching with the tips of its fingers to find a meal. It gripped onto Julia, who screamed in protest and shock, before dragging its hand sideways: she was thrust into her fellow Knights of the Blood Oath member with a sickening thud, as Rick was squashed into tiny blue crystals, signalling his death.

Before any of the others could react, Julia's terrified body was dragged from the cave, still kicking and screaming; then, all noise came to an abrupt end at the clamping of the Titan's jaws.

The rest of the group backed up to the wall of the cave in shock, standing alongside the frightened horses, trying to make sure that no other players or horses died in the cave. The Titan that had killed the two guildmates soon returned, thrusting its long, extended digits into the cave; it could tell that the players and horses were there, but it was not quite able to reach them: its fingertips stopped around a metre short of the players' bodies.

Kirito considered attacking the hand with his Elucidator, either by stabbing or slicing the fingers, but he didn't want to get caught out or make the Titan more aggressive; as if reading his thoughts, Asuna clutched Kirito's right hand tightly, before giving him a knowing look, telling him to restrain himself. Kirito smiled meekly back: both knew that it may come to that regardless, as they would need to get out of the cave to progress towards their goal of completing the game.

Suddenly, the Titan's stretching arm swung violently into the wall to the players' left, having been knocked out of the way by another Titan that wanted a piece of the players. The two Titans barged backwards and forwards, both itching to pluck an unfortunate avatar out of the cave; above their scrabbling, the players could hear loud, booming footsteps, as more Titans approached in order to fight it out for the seventeen prizes that lay waiting in the cave.

Then, one boom was much louder than the footsteps; it seemed more like a Titan falling over, but they couldn't be sure with the rest of the commotion going on around them. The sound was repeated, and this time they were sure.

The players felt a glimmer of hope in the panic, as it sounded like other players had noticed their plight and were defeating the Titans on the outside.

One of the Titans that were just fingertips away from them suddenly went limp, its outstretched arm falling to the ground at their feet. The other Titan began to withdraw its arm to attack those outside, before it too was killed.

The players within the cave began to pull on the horses, rushing to leave the cave; the horses shared their sentiment and obeyed without hesitation. Each remaining member had their own horse, except Kirito and Asuna, who had doubled up. As they reached the edge of the cave and returned to the forest outside, they saw a group of ten players waiting for them; most remained in the trees above, but Erwin and Mike of the Survey Corps were waiting on the ground for them.

"Thanks for that." Kirito addressed the Squad Leaders, acknowledging he'd no doubt be dead if it wasn't for their intervention.

"No problem." Erwin simply replied, before adding, "Are those all of the remaining horses?"

"Yeah." Kirito sighed, knowing the situation was pretty dire. "Have you seen any of the others out there?" He continued, not knowing the situation of the other Clearing Group members that weren't in either of their groups. Erwin gestured to Marco, who doubled up onto Jean's horse so that Erwin could ride his own.

"No, but they'll be out there. We need to continue south." Erwin stated simply, taking charge of the now-merged group. "Mike, I want you in charge of those in the trees. We'll avoid Titans where possible, but you'll be responsible for taking them down where necessary, okay?" Mike nodded – though it wasn't really a question – before returning to the sky with his 3D Manoeuvre Gear.

Erwin led the group on horseback, with those in the skies following behind in a spread out group, scouting the Titan threat on all sides. However, they failed to spot a Titan running directly at them from behind until it was too late.

"TITAAAN!" Gustav yelled from the side of the group when he realised, though he wasn't able to warn Darius before it plucked the Survey Corps member from the trees, stuffing him hastily into its mouth without breaking stride. The blue crystals floated out from its gaping mouth as it continued to run, at which point Gustav and Mike swerved to the back of the group. Mike distracted the Titan's attention, causing it to lean into its run more to try and catch him with its mouth; before it could, Gustav lined up a clear path and shot across its back, dragging his blade deep into the nape of its neck to kill the mob, before catching up to the group once more.

There was no time to mourn the loss of a comrade and friend, as the group had to continue moving on towards the end of the game.

* * *

**Fish On stick:** That was the plan! Thank you :) I'm really glad that it worked well, I really wanted to explore that backstory in this AU and ngl I was getting emotional at a few points writing it! Hope you enjoyed this too :)

**dicarten-ice:** Thank you! And I stole it from my buddy Koduka because I liked the idea, I really like getting feedback and this makes it more of a two way thing so I can discuss things with readers :)

**Koduka:** Yoooooooo! Thanks for the review, your reviews are A* and I'll work on the things! As for Levi being out of character, it's gonna happen at times bc its not canon Levi but SAO!Levi, but I get what you mean... I'll try and keep him more in character in future chapters (except a few bits that may be deliberate). As for Hiro... yoouuuuuuu've already met him :p I'll leave you (and anyone else reading this bit) to think about that or wait for a while until I reveal it in the second last chapter xD


	12. The Ultimate Sacrifice

_Level 100: Trost. The Forest of Giant Trees_

_Erwin looked around nervously, unsure of how to get out of this predicament; with the stakes so high, they needed an escape plan, and they needed it now. The first idea he'd come up with seemed to be the only viable option._

_"EVERYONE!" He yelled, commanding their attention despite the loud groans from below, "WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SCATTER! GET AWAY FROM HERE, BUT DON'T GO ALONE! WHEN YOU ESCAPE THE TITANS HERE, MAKE YOUR WAY SOUTH TO SHIGANSHINA! GO!"_

Kimiko looked around nervously, seeing her subordinates from the Knights of the Blood Oath – those that were still alive – scattering in a frenzied panic, splitting off into different groups. She'd hoped, given the situation, that her guildmates would assemble and stick together as one of those groups, protecting each other as they made their way to Shiganshina. Already, Miyu and Taiki had come to Kimiko's side, looking to protect _her_ even amongst the panic. She couldn't be more grateful for their loyalty throughout the game, especially now.

"We really should be moving, Captain." Taiki pointed out tonelessly, coaxing the young woman out from her thoughts.

"What about Yoshiro?" Miyu cut in, worried for their partner. As far as she was concerned, they were a group of four, and that was how it should be.

"What about me?" A booming voice came from behind, and the fourth member of the Elite Team had arrived. Miyu hugged him briefly, glad that they were back together again; she was young and naive, but had come to feel like the four players were her family in the game, brothers and sisters that looked out for one another.

Samuel of the Survey Corps arrived on their tree branch, his demeanour lacking some of its usual friendly charm as fear began to take over. He looked out from below his black centre-parted hair at the four of them, trying to figure out why they hadn't scrambled yet.

"Guys, we need to go!" He rushed the words out of his mouth, before taking off into the trees. Without a second thought, Kimiko followed, knowing that a Survey Corps member can assist them – even lead them – far better than she on this level.

Samuel led the group through the trees, with Kimiko and the others following just behind: they could still hear the Titans following them, and the trees became shorter in the area they were heading towards. That was when Kimiko veered off to the right behind Samuel.

"CAPTAIN?" Taiki yelled; he was possibly the only member of the Knights of the Blood Oath who dared question Kimiko in such a manner.

"LOOK!" She yelled in reply, and her three guildmates – along with Samuel, who'd now caught up to the situation behind him – followed her path with their eyes. They could see trees, Titans, and... two other members of the Knights of the Blood Oath, quivering on a lowly tree branch.

The rest of the miniature group followed, diving between branches at breakneck speed to bear down on the pair of terrified players. Kimiko was just a few metres away from catching them when the branch they were on was snapped in half by a Titan's palm; the player further away from her hung in the air for a second, hovering before falling where the ledge below their feet had been destroyed. A Titan's clamping jaws signalled their fate to the rest of the nearby players.

Kimiko grabbed onto the remaining player, not settling on the branch before reengaging her 3DMG to a higher perch and escaping as another Titan destroyed the rest of the branch they'd been on moments earlier.

"Fernando? What the hell were you doing?" Kimiko probed, stumbling over her words as the adrenaline rush of the past few minutes showed no signs of ending.

"W-we thought we could m-make it." Fernando remained in shock, strands of his long, ginger hair sticking to his face. Kimiko figured he'd probably seen the other young man getting eaten. "I'm s-sorry Captain." He then murmured, bowing his head slightly to Kimiko. Her personal team then arrived on the branches, along with Samuel, who realised that the rest of the people he was with – leader of the Clearing Group or otherwise – were petrified, and he'd need to take charge. He'd also need to swallow his own fear and return to his more cheerful self, but he could work on that as he went.

"Come with us. You'll be a lot safer than on your own." Samuel stated simply, before smiling meekly at the end to reassure the young man. Fernando tried to protest a little about how he'd slow them down and how he wasn't on their level, but Yoshiro gave him a comforting pat on the back, before leading him back into the treetops.

"We'll need to find others," Samuel began, catching the attention of Kimiko, "or some kind of transport. We won't make it far on foot once we reach the edge of the forest."

Kimiko began to think about this, wondering how the rest of the Clearing Group, the Knights of the Blood Oath, the _people_ were doing, and whether they were even still alive. She wondered how many of the horses had survived the night. She wondered and wondered until she was distracted by her thoughts, and she didn't even notice that a 15 metre class had snuck up on the group and launched a long, thin arm towards her as she swung through the trees.

* * *

Erwin hadn't even finished when Klein began to move, making his way over towards Sasha before the impending panic began; he saw Asuna and the others joining up to Kirito and Kimiko's team assembling, knowing that each group would be safe, but felt – despite her greater experience of Trost – that he was duty bound to protect Sasha, particularly given her lower stats.

She'd already packed her things into her inventory when Klein arrived, and so they took off into the trees straight away. Klein soon realised that they'd been joined by two others: he could tell the thin, sharp faces of Harry One and Issin after just a glance, and he was quietly reassured that not only was he part of a larger group now, but they were his trusted companions from Fuurinkazan. It also meant he could check up on the other members through them, having been part of various discussions with Survey Corps members and high-ranking Clearing Group members during the night before.

After a few moments, the group was further bolstered; a tall figure shrouded by an emerald green cape led two trainees towards the group from the side, joining up with Klein and the rest. Sasha recognised the trainees to be Eren and Mikasa, while the black bowl-cut that extended beyond the cape in front was clearly that of Marlo.

Marlo began to climb towards a high, thick branch before landing on it, followed by the others of the group; he felt it was important for them to pause and think, rather than blindly tear off through the trees. Marlo, Eren and Mikasa began to scan the lower branches and the ground, seeing an abundance of Titans stalking them from below. Klein had more pressing matters to deal with than the Titan threat though. He'd landed just next to Sasha on the branch, and gently rested his hand on her shoulder as he strode past her towards his Fuurinkazan guildmates. Both looked up from having been scouting below as he approached, warm smiles greeting him happily.

"How are you, man?" Issin called out, holding out his hand to shake Klein's, before sliding it through his hair; the two chuckled, before embracing each other heartily. Harry One then ruffled Klein's hair, as the only member of Fuurinkazan who was taller than him.

"I've been good," Klein began, gesturing comically with his hands as per usual, "I meant to come see you guys last night, but, uh, I was in some meetings and stuff... how are you guys? And what about the other three?"

An awkward expression fell over the faces of Issin and Harry One, while Klein scratched the back of his head. "Ohhh, you guys haven't seen them either?" He continued, before waving his hands in the air to signal that it wasn't to worry about.

"It's not that..." Harry One began, each word tinged with a painful tone. He glanced across at Issin, before returning a pained gaze towards Klein. "We've seen Kunimittz and Dale – I'm pretty sure they ended up following Kirito when we scattered a minute ago – but," He gulped visibly, an impressive feat given the armour he was still wearing over his whole body. "Dynamm... didn't make it out of Trost."

The air fell silent.

Klein's vision of the two men in front of him becoming increasingly out of focus, as the details of their avatars and gear began to blur into blobs of colour. Klein rubbed his eyes on the backs of his gloves, before realising that the visual impairment was actually his tears. He felt a reassuring and on his shoulder, turning to see that it was Sasha. She flashed him a meek smile, but her eyes told the story that she knew what he was feeling; she wrapped her arms around him tightly, trying to banish all of the horrors from the death game with their embrace.

She felt protective over the happy-go-lucky young man, and already wanted to repay the kindness and joy he'd brought to this terrifying world that she'd inhabited for four months. In this moment, there was nothing to be done, but to be there for him. However, Marlo didn't necessarily share the sentiment, having _seen_ many comrades die, let alone _heard _about it.

"We need to move out." He called simply to the group. It wasn't that he lacked compassion or empathy, but he'd become desensitised to the harsh reality of this game. Moreover, he knew that if they didn't keep moving, there's a high chance they'd end up the same way as Klein's friend.

"If we can escape the forest," Marlo continued, laying out the plans for everyone else, "we can get away from the large amounts of Titans within. We also have a higher chance of spotting others from the wider group, and we'll be on our way towards Shiganshina. Any questions?"

Klein glanced up at him, hating him in the moment for pushing them on so quickly, though he knew it was the best option for everyone. He let go of Sasha, brushed his legs down and got ready to jump again.

He knew, deep inside, he wasn't ready.

* * *

The Titan's arm swung towards Kimiko, the elongated fingertips at full stretch to try and connect with her vulnerable body. If they had've been looking, the players would've sworn that the Titan began to grin as it felt assured of the successful annihilation of another target. However, it turned out not to be the one it was aiming for.

Yoshiro came diving into Kimiko's side, knocking her off her previous course; the Titan's palm collided with the young man, sending his armoured body plummeting towards a nearby tree trunk. As he came into contact with the bark, his body exploded into blue crystals, and his screams came to an abrupt end. Kimiko looked across from where she was now hanging from her 3DMG at the spot where he'd imploded, unable to comprehend that such a trusted friend and valued ally was dead, all of a sudden. Because of her.

Miyu didn't take the time to think, to mourn or to lament. She instantly cut back on herself using the 3DMG, turning around to follow the Titan as it carried on with its path. "COME BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!" She yelled while swooping towards it, catching its attention; it turned to face her, at which point she unsheathed the small axe from her back, planting it firmly in the Titan's right eye, before swinging round on it to land on the ear. The axe was stuck, and so she had to tug violently until it was released, pulling the cornea and much of the sclera out with it.

The Titan screamed the most unholy of screams, before lurching a giant hand up to try and swat away Miyu as she climbed over the top of its head. "THIS IS FOR KILLING MY BROTHER!" She yelled, somehow managing to outdo the Titan on vocal volume. She thrust the axe into the other eye of the Titan, before dropping her weight onto the axe in order to pull out the contents of the eye once more and land on the Titan's collarbone.

The other players of the group stood and watched, shocked first by grief and even more so by Miyu's unrelenting brutality. It was how they all felt, losing their brother-in-arms, but they had never seen such action from Miyu. She battled as hard as anyone in the past, but because it was necessary, not out of vengeance or malice.

She didn't just want to kill this Titan, she wanted to _hurt_ it first.

She ran across the steaming skin of the Titan's left shoulder as it tried to brush her off once again; she used her 3DMG to hop over the outstretched fingertips before lunging towards the nape of its neck and driving her axe into the rough tissue. At once, the Titan's movements lulled, and it began to crash to the ground. However, Miyu struggled to free her axe from the Titan's neck.

It went down to its knees, a huge ripple coursing through its lifeless skin as she pulled at the handle of her trusted weapon. 'Why now? Have I not suffered enough here?' Her thoughts were spinning and she was burning with rage, directed now at her trusted axe as much as it had been for the Titan.

It began to fall forwards, careering towards the crash landing that awaited in the form of the grassy ground below; as it did, the axe came loose and Taiki swung across and grabbed Miyu, before leading her up to a nearby branch. He was going to do it whether she'd got the axe back or not, but he quietly was glad she'd managed to. His heart and mind was racing, and he was choking on the guilt of his brother dying.

But he knew there was a time and place for mourning, and this wasn't it.

He continued to lead her on as the group around them continued to move ahead. Samuel took the lead ahead of Kimiko, still stunned by her failure. Fernando continued alongside, saddened by the loss of Yoshiro, but equally in awe of the spectacular power of the Knights of the Blood Oath's Elite Team.

Samuel continued to lead, remaining silent so as to offer those around him time to grieve. He had been surprised at the sudden nature of Yoshiro's death, but soon accepted that even he had been somewhat sheltered from the true horror of the Titans, with the limited amount of expeditions outside the Wall that the Survey Corps had actually engaged in before the Wall was broken through. A wave of guilt washed over him as he realised that, despite this inexperience, he would be looked to as leader of the group – if not by those around him due to their loyalty to Kimiko, then by Erwin and the others from Trost – and he'd already been unable to save two players since the group formed.

Samuel had no envy for Erwin or the Squad Leaders, and the terrible guilt that must wrack at their souls every day. He soon snapped out of such pity, realising the forest around him was becoming thinner; they had made it to the edge of the forest! A warmth arose in him that he had not felt since a time he'd long since forgotten: just for a second, he felt a tinge of hope.

However, something soon distracted his attention from the forest, as he could see that in the fields in front of them was a carriage being pulled by a horse, heading towards their right. Samuel looked to Kimiko as she spotted it as well, both knowing this was their chance to get to Shiganshina quickly.

* * *

Klein's emotionally tired body descended through the air, falling without so much as a twitch from his limbs; he drifted downwards, accelerating but remaining oddly serene as he did so, before clutching the triggers of his 3DMG tightly, sending hooks flying faster than him through the air into the trees above. He then swung through the air, feeling weightless as he did so, gliding alongside Sasha. If it hadn't have been for the high chances of impending death or the fact he'd just heard that one of his best friends had fallen to the Titans that now stalked him, he'd have enjoyed this feeling. It felt like flying: maybe he'd feel this again in another game, someday. That is so long as he made it out of this one.

Sasha kept a protective eye on Klein as they continued through the trees, knowing that the loss of his friend had hit him hard: she assumed his close friends had all made it so far, and they'd probably not been split up like this in the lower levels of the game.

'I should've kept an eye on them back at Trost- no. We should've stuck together, like the rest of the time.' He began to criticise himself, feelings of guilt multiplying in strength with every word. '_And_ I wasn't there for the rest of the boys last night.'

The group could all see that there were Titans below, reaching up with all their might to try and catch them; most were too short, but a 15 metre class stretched as far as it could with its elongated fingers wrapping around one of the players: one certain fun-loving brunette trainee going by the name of Sasha. Her squirming body was wrapped tightly within the steaming skin of the Titan, its emotionless face looking down on her from underneath dirty blond bangs.

Klein hung in the air, stunned, while Eren divebombed towards the Titan's arm. He quickly swiped his sword to cut through the muscles in the Titan's forearm, releasing its grip on Sasha; Klein burst into action to catch Sasha before she plummeted towards the horde of Titans below. He caught her by the arm, before wrapping his other arm around the small of her back and carrying her up to a nearby tree branch with their combined momentum.

Klein glanced over to see Marlo putting the Titan down, before instantly returning his gaze to Sasha; her eyes were glazed over a little with the tears of panic and fear, but she remained perfect to him.

"Are you okay?" **'Please please ****_please_**** tell me you're okay'**

"Klei-" **'I can barely breathe'**

"Sasha! Please say something," **'Anything at all just show me you're okay'**

"Klein." **'I'm not sure how long I've got, I'm scared, I'm gonna die here, I'm scared'**

He gave her cheek a gentle caress, clearing away some of tears that had stained it; she took a deep breath in at the feeling of his cool fingers on her blushing cheek: his touch had left her breathless in the past, but it gave her the breath she needed.

"Klein." She called, more sure of her speech this time round, "Good luck. I kn-know you can co...mplete the game." Klein began to protest, knowing where this was going, but she raised a weak finger to his lips, before continuing. "Live a long, happy life when y-you get out of here. I love you, Klein." She finished, and before he knew what was happening, he was leaning in towards her; their lips brushed for a few seconds, but then the person before him disappeared; he opened his eyes instinctively, before realising he would not want to see the truth before his face.

Blue crystals.

His eyes welled up in seconds, tears cascading down his sorrowful face. His heart noticeably sank in his chest – it didn't feel like a movement within the body of his avatar in this virtual world, but felt like his actual heart in his actual chest. His legs filled with the weight of the world, and he could hear others joining him on the tree branch: Harry One and Issin had hands on his shoulders, while he could sense the presence of the other three standing further back, waiting. But he didn't care about them, he didn't care about Shiganshina, he didn't care about Sword Art Online. All he cared about was the simple fact that reverberated through his mind, his very soul.

She was gone, just like that.

* * *

**A/N: So... I hope that was as emotional for you to read as it was for me to write. Sorry this wasn't up sooner, I've been working loads over summer, trying to figure out my life, planning a follow-up to SS Rated, planning a Tokyo Ghoul fic &amp; beginning to plan a book xD it's been fun but hectic, as I believe the next year will be in general, with college, work &amp; writing! Anywho, the next chapter we'll be returning to the other groups and there's gonna be some flashback to explain more about the Trainees' arrival to Trost, with the mysterious "four months ago" that's been mentioned a few times... OOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOooooooooo exciting! :P**

**Koduka: Thanks as always man, if I could write as well as you review, this story would be much better xD seriously, your feedback &amp; support is amazing and I hope that with future chapters/stories I'll be able to improve as much as I can. (also, I actually managed to spot some things proofreading this, I made like 20 improvements :'D)**

**dicarten-ice: once again, thank you! :) I hope you keep enjoying, it's awesome when people like yourself tell me you're enjoying what I'm writing, it really gives me a kick to carry on :)**


	13. Hi

Sorry. Sorry dudes.

Hi, StgMc98 here :D

So, it's been a while since I updated this story. This fact sucks. The reasons (college work, work, university application work) suck even harder, as they were often soul destroying and seemingly endless. In truth, the last I wrote for Level 100 was October, although I only got 1.6K through the next chapter before being dragged back into the various piles of shit that have consumed me and my relationship with Microsoft Word of late.

I'm gonna be working on a follow up for my other recent(ish) story, SS Rated (you should check it out, it's Fairy Tail &amp; Tokyo Ghoul and works better than you'd imagine ;) ) before continuing this, as I actually put a feeler out for a follow up and then never got round to it. However, once that's done, this story will continue.

If anyone is still around and interested in this story, thank you and sorry again! There's still a metric shit-tonne that's gonna go on before this story ends, for better or worse. There's death, besiegement, escape, death, romance, camaraderie, death, even a fancy two-part Epilogue to round it all off! In fact, with my current plans, there's still plenty of action to come, leading all the way from next time (Chapter 13: To Shiganshina) all the way through to Chapter 30: Epilogue Part 2 *full name to be revealed at a later date to avoid spoilers*.

There's still plenty of fun to be had, and it _is _on it's way. I'll try and make it worth the wait, and even better than the rushed work that has come before it.

StgMc98


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